


Our Last Hanami

by AliceCarroll



Category: Samurai Love Ballad Party - Fandom, イケメン戦国 時をかける恋 | Ikemen Sengoku: Toki o Kakeru Koi (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Yakuza, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Smut, Spoilers of Nobunaga's route
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-01-17
Packaged: 2019-02-11 09:49:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12932712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceCarroll/pseuds/AliceCarroll
Summary: After a series of incidents, Tsubasa Sanada ends up at the house of her family's enemy, Oda Nobunaga.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am so excited to share this new fic!
> 
> Nobunaga's section is based on the characters in Ikemen Sengoku, whereas Shingen's in based on the ones of Samurai Love Ballad Party.
> 
> I really hope you like it.
> 
> Thank you for reading <3

Nozomi looked at Shingen and Tsubasa’s interaction with a troubled smile... as usual.

“I see I leave you well-accompanied,” Shingen rubbed Tsubasa’s hair as he got ready to leave the house.

“Stop right there, Takeda Shingen!” Tsubasa stood up and pointed dramatically at him. “What’s the meaning of this?!” she asked him, uncovering a hickey on the crook of her neck.

Shingen laughed and went away as all reply, and Tsubasa sat down with a sigh. Sasha looked at Nozomi, worried, but as usual she wasn’t letting out her true feelings about the matter.

It had always been like that. Tsubasa and Shingen were childhood friends and had been raised almost as siblings. They had always been stuck together, doing sleepovers at the other’s house, bathing together, and attending the same school, even as teenagers. It was only natural that they ended up sleeping together when they started to feel curious about sex and that people started seeing them as a couple. Their parents, too, had seen that as the best chance to unify their families through their wedding, but both Shingen and Tsubasa had shamelessly laughed at them. Marriage? A couple? Bullshit!

Their extroverted, easy-going and flirty nature made them the king and queen of parties and they would always let the other know the number of conquest of a night, and if any man with an injured ego tried to insult Tsubasa for enjoying her sexuality, Shingen would take care that he didn’t see the light again, as well as if any woman lied and said that Shingen had promised her a stable relationship, Tsubasa would make sure that her social and academic life was ruined forever :D

When Tsubasa had decided not to follow her family’s example and join them in their... ‘business’ to become a writer, Shingen had given her shelter. Her brother, Yukimura, was working with him, too, so there had been some confrontations at the beginning since he had wanted his sister to work for the family. Nevertheless, as a penny-less writer, Tsubasa had had to stand her brother’s complains until he had pretty much forgotten about the matter and got used to her living with them.

Tsubasa had met Nozomi and Sasha in high school and the three of them had instantly become friends. They were in the same class as Tsubasa when she and Shingen had been separated for the first time and Tsubasa had become intimate with them. They would have never imagined Tsubasa’s origins, so the first time they had gone to Tsubasa’s house they had been intimidated by its enormous size and the number of people at Tsubasa’s service.

“Oh, we are yakuza,” Tsubasa had replied.

Sasha had nodded, happy to understand the situation.

“Jacuzzi?” Nozomi had asked with a begging look on her face.

She had introduced Shingen to her friends that very afternoon and Nozomi had fallen for him, but she had always believed Tsubasa had feelings for him.

“Feelings for that dork?” Tsubasa had laughed. “Of course not. We do kiss and sleep together when we are horny, though. Why do you ask?”

That had been enough for Nozomi to prevent her for talking to her friend about her feelings. Sasha, on the other hand, knew, and though she found the gossip extremely entertaining, she felt sorry for her friend.

That afternoon the three friends were hanging out at Shingen’s home, invited by Tsubasa, and were going to get ready for the party Shingen was hosting that evening. Nozomi looked at the red-haired leaving with a sad smile. She knew she was only Tsubasa’s friend for him, so she wouldn’t dare to make a move on him or tell Tsubasa about her feelings. She didn’t want to step in Tsubasa and Shingen’s way either. If they ended up finding out they were actually in love with one another, Nozomi would only be an obstacle in their relationship.

She had expressed these concerns to Sasha, and she had insisted that she was pretty sure Tsubasa and Shingen didn’t love the other in a romantic way, but Nozomi wasn’t that sure.

Sasha helped them with the makeup for the party. They were almost ready when Yukimura started banging at the door, asking them to go out of there and join them in the party.

“We are almost done!” Sasha exclaimed at him.

Suddenly, they heard a low thud. They turned their heads, knowing pretty well what that meant.

“Hi, little lady. Nozomi, Tsubasa,” Saizo greeted them.

Sasha’s cheeks turned an adorable crimson as she finished Tsubasa’s makeup.

“Hi, Saizo.”

“What a cruel distinction you always make when greeting us!” Tsubasa playfully exclaimed, knowing far too well that Sasha and Saizo weren’t totally indifferent about the other.

Saizo ignored her comment and opened abruptly the door, making Yukimura stumble forwards.

“Careful, Yukimura, dear. We don’t want that beautiful face of yours getting stamped against the floor,” he said, holding him before he fell.

“Saizo!” Yukimura exclaimed, his cheeks blushing. “That’s... What are you doing here?”

“I was just making sure the girls were finishing.”

“We are done!” Tsubasa exclaimed.

“You two can continue, though,” Sasha added with a playful grin, at which Nozomi started giggling.

The three of them were wearing traditional kimonos. Sasha’s was blue with two white cranes stamped on it and a silver obi, Nozomi’s orange, patterned with cherry-tree petals, and she was wearing a pink obi, and Tsubasa’s was purple, patterned with blue and pink hydrangeas, and a golden obi. Tsubasa took Yukimura’s arm and let him guide the five of them to the garden where the party was taking place. All of it was decorated with Chinese lanterns in the traditional style, and there were several tables with drinks and food arranged around the garden.

“My dear Tsubasa!” Shingen exclaimed when he saw them. “You three look splendid.”

“Thank you, Shingen, you too, though not as much as my little brother. Am I right, Saizo?” she added, making her brother blush and the latter laugh.

“I’m too biased to reply,” Saizo said, making Shingen laugh.

“Tsubasa, I would like to show you the decorations on the cherry trees if you would like to come,” Shingen offered her his arm.

“Of course. Yuki, stay with Saizo,” she winked, letting go of his arm. “Girls, are you joining us?”

“I’d rather take something to drink first,” Nozomi politely replied.

“Alright, see you later.”

The party went on with no further ado. They all chatted and enjoyed the food and drink, even Shingen and Tsubasa were behaving better than usual. Shingen announced the beginning of a Noh play and they went to the room where it was going to take place. He and Tsubasa sat on the place of honour, followed by Yukimura and the girls, Saizo right behind them. Just before it started, the doors opened with a loud thud.

“Takeda Shingen,” a deep voice echoed throughout the room and all the guests turned their heads to look at the person who had interrupted their entertainment. “I would apologise for coming unannounced, but you were the rude one deciding not to invite me to your party,” a black-haired man grinned from the door.

Two other men followed him as he made himself way to where Shingen now stood up. One was brown haired and shorter than the man who had spoken. The other, of the same height, had an equally dark hair and was wearing a noticeable patch on his left eye.

“Oda Nobunaga,” Shingen said between gritted teeth. “As you said, I didn’t invite you, so what are you doing here?”

Tsubasa looked at them. She had heard of Oda Nobunaga before. Apparently, he wanted to unify all the families under his rule, which seemed insane for Shingen. He just craved more power and richness. Tsubasa stood up to support Shingen and her brother, who was now standing at his side.

“Well, if they aren’t two of the Sanada’s little pearls. Sanada Tsubasa and Sanada Yukimura.”

“Answer Shingen’s question,” Yukimura demanded.

“Yukimura, dear, no need to get tense,” Saizo whispered in his ear, standing behind him.

“Takeda Shingen,” Nobunaga spoke up, “I’ve come to insist you on reconsidering joining the families before a war between them unfolds.”

“You claim you want to unify the families to avoid more bloodshed and you’re willing to do so by means of a war? Oda Nobunaga, you’re either a great hypocrite or utterly insane.”

Nobunaga smirked.

“Think of me as you may. A war will always be better than hundreds.”

“I am not changing my mind,” Shingen concluded, his countenance serious.

“You’ll hear of us soon,” Nobunaga finished before turning and leaving the room, followed by his two men.

“The one with the patch was hot,” Sasha whispered into Nozomi’s ear, the latter too worried about Shingen to give a damn about her friend’s wet underwear.

“They came here only to threaten us?” Tsubasa asked Shingen as they sat on their former place.

“It looks so, but I wouldn’t let down my guard,” he whispered.

The masked actors of the Noh theatre entered the scene and the music started playing. Nevertheless, at that moment, the performers took katanas from their kimono.

“For the unification of the families!” they started exclaiming.

“Long live Lord Nobunaga!”

The room filled with yells of panic and Nobunaga and Shingen’s names. Shingen took Tsubasa by the arm as the people who were wearing weapons took them to defend themselves and the rest ran away.

“Run!” he yelled at her, tossing her near the door and taking his own katana, though Tsubasa saw how one of the actors pierced his shoulder.

“My Lord Shingen!” Yukimura exclaimed and went to his help. “Tsubasa, run!!”

Panicking, Tsubasa did as they told her and started running towards the door to the garden. There was a secret door at the back of the garden that lead to a narrow street which she could use as a safer and faster means to escape the house.

She continued running on the streets, looking for a taxi that could take her to her parent’s home and ask for help, but just as she was going out to one of the main streets, she saw how a shadow was about to fall on a man who was walking ahead of her.

“Watch out!” she yelled as a first instinct.

The man before her startled and took his katana out from his kimono, defending himself just as the man landed in front of him. Tsubasa beheld in fear how the man dug his katana in his enemy’s chest and turned to face her, only to discover he was no other than Oda Nobunaga.

“Sanada Tsubasa?” he widened his eyes in surprise.

She turned to run away, but ended up falling on the floor –kimonos have never been too comfortable for exercise –and just as she stood up she realised she had twisted her ankle. She felt a hand round her arm and let out a yell, suffocated by Nobunaga’s hand on her mouth. She bit his hand and prepared to scream for help, but Nobunaga hit her neck, making her faint.

“I was going to thank you for your help, but if you’re going to give away our position, I’m afraid I’ll have to do this.”

He held her in his arms just as a figure appeared behind him.

“Milord?”

“Hideyoshi,” Nobunaga faced the brown-haired man, “we’ll take her to Azuchi with us.”

“Milord, she’s the sister of...”

“I’m quite aware whose sister she is, but we are taking her with us. Make sure nothing happens to her in our way.”

“... as you wish, Lord Nobunaga.”

 

“Lord Shingen, we have not been able to find Tsubasa,” one of the members of the Takeda family informed him and Yukimura. “There’s no sign that she’s... dead either.”

“Keep looking for her,” Shingen commanded him, his anger repressed.

“Yukimura,” Saizo appeared behind them all of a sudden, making them startle. “Some of my men have seen a woman similar to Tsubasa being driven away in one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s cars.”

Yukimura clenched his hands into fists.

“Send your men to Azuchi.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsubasa wakes up at Azuchi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the second chapter!! I really hope you like this one. I am going to play with events from the canon from now on, so I hope that you like the references :)
> 
> Just in case you didn't know, 'Tsubasa' means wings in Japanese, so Nobunaga and the rest of the characters will play with the meaning throughout the story.
> 
> Thank you for reading and, please, let me know what you think in the comments <3

Tsubasa woke up with a headache. She sat up on the bed and discovered she was not at her room but at a modern Western style decorated room. Then, she remembered what had happened the previous night and started panicking. She searched for her purse or phone, but remembered she had left them behind at Shingen’s house; her kimono had been replaced by a pyjama and her long black hair fell loose down her back. At that moment, the door opened and the brown-haired man who accompanied Nobunaga the previous night entered.

“You’re awake,” he said.

“I am Sanada Tsubasa and I demand you to answer my questions,” she commanded in the most authoritative tone she could manage after waking up. “First, who are you?”

He widened his eyes in surprise and frowned.

“You’re the one at a disadvantage here, so don’t you go commanding the people that treat you kindly,” he said, and Tsubasa noticed he was carrying a tray with breakfast. She stubbornly looked at him, waiting for an answer and he sighed, remembering Nobunaga’s order to keep her, at least, more or less content since she had saved his life. “My name is Toyotomi Hideyoshi. I am at Lord Nobunaga’s service.”

“Where am I?”

“You’re at Azuchi building.”

“How did I get here?”

“Nobunaga himself brought you here, so be thankful to him.”

“I believe I was the one who saved the Lord of Fool’s life,” she smirked.

Hideyoshi’s grab around the tray tightened, trying to hold back his fury at Tsubasa’s insult to his lord.

“He saved your life, too, allowing you to stay here instead of killing you to torment your lover and punish him for his violent behaviour.”

“Violent?! I believe it was your Lord who sent man to kill us yester night! And Shingen i...”

“Good morning,” a strong, powerful voice was resounded in the room. Tsubasa and Hideyoshi turned to face Nobunaga, who had just entered and watched the two of them with an amused smirk. “You’re finally awake.”

“Oda Nobunaga,” Tsubasa said between gritted teeth, her cheeks red with fury.

“Sanada Tsubasa,” Nobunaga acknowledged her and turned his gaze to Hideyoshi. “I thought I told you not to upset her.”

“Milord...” Hideyoshi tried to protest, but was cut short by Nobunaga’s deep voice.

“I believe you are Shingen’s lover,” he said. “What a gift of the odds finding you in that alley.”

“I saved your life,” Tsubasa made sure to repeat. “And I’m not Shingen’s lover, and even if I were, I wouldn’t be addressed like that. I have a name of my own, and quite respectable, as it is Sanada Tsubasa.”

Nobunaga let out an open-mouthed laugh.

“You’re quite right, Tsubasa.”

“And I command you to take me back home immediately,” she said.

“You imprudent...” Hideyoshi was going to scold her again when Nobunaga started talking, his features suddenly darkened.

“Why would I do that? This is the perfect opportunity to do a payback to your lord for his surprise attack to our men last night.”

“For the umpteenth time, he is not my lord!!” Tsubasa exclaimed, fury clouding her features. “And you were the ones who attacked us! Shingen would never do such an act of cowardice!”

Nobunaga’s expression turned serious and meditative for a second.

“I see,” he said, calm. “Well, enjoy your stay here,” he smirked. “Hideyoshi, let’s go.”

Hideyoshi’s look of confusion only startled Tsubasa and made her angrier, but before she could say anything, they left the room. Her stomach growled in protest, so she smelled the food to make sure it wasn’t poisoned, and took a small bite, hoping not even Nobunaga would attempt to murder the person that had saved his life.

She felt her eyes starting to burn with unshed tears, but she wouldn’t let herself cry, not even in a situation like that. _Come on, Tsubasa,_ she thought. _You’re a Sanada. You’re strong and brave._ At that moment, a low thud was heard behind her. A noise she knew pretty well. She turned with hopeful eyes.

“Sasuke!” she whispered, happier than ever to see again the little child. “Oh, I’m so happy to see you. What are you doing here?”

“Are you eating?!” he asked her in disbelief. “Come on, take this,” she gave her an onigiri.

He was dressing in his usual black trousers and turtle necked jumper and took his walky-talky.

“I’ve found her,” he said as Tsubasa ate the onigiri. “Over.”

“We are on our way. Out.”

“I’m so glad you came,” she embraced him.

“Of course I would, Tsubasa,” he smiled, returning her embrace. “I was the only one who fit in the ventilation duct.”

“You’re amazing. Nevertheless, be careful. I wouldn’t like you to be found. Nobunaga owes me one, but I wouldn’t like you to risk your life.”

“He owes...?” his question was interrupted as he disappeared from Tsubasa’s sight just as the door opened.

“Were you talking alone?” a white-haired man Tsubasa had never seen before appeared before her.

“Who are you?” she narrowed her eyes.

“You can call me Mitsuhide,” he smiled, his features reminding Tsubasa of a snake. “Did a half-eaten onigiri appeared on its own on your hand?”

“I was carrying when I was found.”

“Nice try, lady,” Mitsuhide grinned, clearly amused. “But we already know Sanada’s ninja are here. You are requited at the meeting room. Now, let me escort you.”

Tsubasa went out of the bedroom after Mitsuhide, throwing a concerned look at the room behind her before closing the door, hoping Sasuke would be alright. He led her down a corridor and they took an elevator to go to one of the highest levels of the building. Tsubasa had always felt fascination for those kinds of European houses, but at that moment she couldn’t take her time to admire it, nervous as she was for what was to come.

Mitsuhide opened a big door at the end of another corridor after which there was a luminous room with a long table and several chairs. At the end sat Nobunaga, Saizo standing next to him, Hideyoshi and the guy of the patch at either side of him. She could also recognise Tokugawa Ieasu, but the rest of the men were unknown to her. Tsubasa smiled at Saizo in relief, but he maintained his serious face, making her grin falter.

“Just on time,” Nobunaga grinned. “Come here, Sanada’s pearl.”

She crossed her arms on her chest.

“What’s that name?”

“Maybe they rather know you as Sanada’s angel ?”

He kept on staring at him until Saizo spoke up.

“Tsubasa, you would like to come.”

She neared them and looked at the screen of the computer which was in front of Nobunaga. Shingen and Yukimura were talking to her kidnapper at the other side of the computer, and they sighed in relief when they saw her.

“I told you she was alright,” Nobunaga huffed.

“Shingen! Yuki!” Tsubasa exclaimed.

“Tsubasa, listen to me well,” Shingen started talking. “Apparently, the Oda family wasn’t responsible of yesterday’s attack.”

“What? But...”

“We have been informed that by the time they went out of the castle, their men were actually suffering an enemy intrusion there, at Azuchi.”

Tsubasa looked at Nobunaga, who seemed to be studying her features, trying to decipher her reaction.

“Those who attacked my family claimed they were Shingen’s men,” he said.

“Shingen would never undertake such an act of cowardice,” Tsubasa repeated, narrowing her eyes.

“That’s why we’ve called it a truce,” Yukimura informed her, his hands clenched into fists.

“It’s obvious that a third party here is trying to get to us using the other’s name.”

“But what could be their objective?” Tsubasa asked. “You are already against each other, so the ‘divide-and-rule’ strategy doesn’t apply in this case.”

“There can be two reasons to that,” one of Nobunaga’s men spoke up while adjusting his glasses. “Either they are not informed of our hostility or their objective is another, like trying to make their involvement with a yakuza war pass unnoticed before the police.”

Tsubasa nodded, understanding.

“And why are you telling this to me?”

“For the moment, going out of Azuchi might be dangerous,” Shingen sighed. “So you are staying there until things get better.”

“Besides,” Nobunaga added, “you are the symbol of the Takeda-Oda truce,” he smirked. “As long as we don’t hurt you, they won’t attack us.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Tsubasa looked, enraged, at the screen, where Shingen and Yukimura were shown with a serious expression.

“Let’s find out if Sanada’s bird is a lark or a nightingale,” Nobunaga smirked.

 

Shingen and Yukimura ended the call and the former let out a sigh, almost collapsing on the floor.

“Shingen!” Yukimura exclaimed. “Wait, I’ll call the doctor.”

At that moment, Nozomi entered the room and kneeled with alarm next to him.

“I told you not to overwork yourself,” she said.

After the fight, Nozomi had helped the injured with their wounds. She had seen how Shingen had been hurt on the shoulder after helping Tsubasa escape, but he was not with the wounded. She had found him in his room, asking the doctor and Yukimura not to tell anyone he had been injured.

“I saw how you got hurt,” Nozomi had said at Shingen’s surprised and worried expression when he saw her at the room.

She had offered her help treating Shingen’s wound and that very night she had sneaked into his room and helped him changing his bandages, taking off the upped part of his sleeping yukata, the scene illuminated by the moonlight that infiltrated through the half-translucent paper of the doors.

She helped him off his shirt that time, too, and checked his bandages to discover that, indeed, his wound was bleeding once again.

“Tsubasa...” Shingen regretted as Nozomi treated him.

“You should worry about yourself.”

“Have we made the right choice leaving her at Azuchi?” Yukimura asked him, anger clearly reflected in his voice.

“They wouldn’t dare hurting her,” Shingen said. “The consequences would be disastrous for them if they did, and she will be safer hidden in Azuchi. Besides, our enemy can’t know we are on a truce, and sending Tsubasa back to us with no further ado would be too suspicious.”

“But...”

“Yukimura, I understand you’re worried, but let him rest,” Nozomi asked him. “Everything will turn out right.”

Or so she hoped.

 

Sasha was doing the weekly shopping for her and Nozomi’s apartment. She was eating absent-mindedly a popsicle as she carried her bag full of mandarins, when a voice called her.

“Hey, lass!!”

She turned with her best you-didn’t-dare-being-disgusting-did-you? face to see the man who was calling her, but her frown disappeared when the motorbike stopped right next to her and she saw he was wearing a golden crescent on the helmet. He took it off, and she distinguished the patch of the guy of the patch of the day before.

“You were at Shingen’s party!” he exclaimed.

“Oh, the guy of the patch!” she pointed at him.

“Nice to meet you, lass. My name is Date Masamune,” he smirked.

“I am Sasha, nice to meet you,” she kept on eating her popsicle as Masamune shamelessly stared. “Why do you have a banana on your helmet?”

“I’m sorry about the attack you suffered,” he said. “Weren’t you hurt?”

“I wasn’t. Come to think of it, weren’t your men the assailants?

He let out a loud laugh.

“You got some nerve to ask me that in such a calm fashion. I like you, lass. Want to come with me?”

“Sure, only if you have a spare helmet. Wouldn’t like to have my head crushed on the concrete,” always use a helmet, kids.

“Of course!” he exclaimed and got off his bike to take a helmet from inside the seat.

“Where should I put my mandarins?”

“Gimme,” he put them in the helmet’s place. “You shouldn’t eat that either,” he pointed at the popsicle.

“Why not?”

He took it from her hands and licked her stained fingers.

“They would be getting on the way as you hold me from behind.”

“Are you going to go that fast?” Sasha asked, her heart beating faster and her pants wetter than ever.

“I don’t like taking things easy,” he smirked.

 

Nozomi had left Shingen in the meeting room as he discussed with his men what they were going to do next when she received a call by Sasha.

“Are you home yet?” she asked, worried. “You shouldn’t go out too much, it’s dangerous out there.”

“Nozomi, you have to come here!” she exclaimed. “We are having such a great time!”

“Tell her to bring more sake!” Nozomi heard a man exclaiming.

“That’s right, bring some sake.”

“But...” she tried to speak up, but Sasha interrupted her. 

“I’ll send you the address. Hurry up before we finish all the mandarins.”

“Mandarins?” Nozomi asked, confused, but Sasha hung up.

She went to the address after buying some sake, worried about her friend. She called at the door of the luxurious apartment and entered it, taking the lift up to the penthouse. There, Sasha opened the door between giggles.

“Come in!” she took her by the arm and Nozomi had no other choice but to comply. Then, she saw him.

“You!” she pointed at him. “He’s Shingen’s enemy,” she scolded Sasha in a whisper.

“Oh, well, I heard they called it a truce, so it should be alright.”

“But...”

“Come here, we were about to play poker, but realised we didn’t have enough players,” Sasha pushed her to the sofa, where she sat with a pout.

“Hi, lass,” Masamune smirked.

“I hope we can convince your friend about playing with us,” Sasha told Masamune.

“Kojuro!” he exclaimed. “We need you!!”

A tall man with dark hair, green eyes and a tired look appeared on the living room and Nozomi decided she was staying.

The average poker game turned into strip poker when Sasha realised how bad Masamune was at the game. Nozomi was glad he was even worse than her and would always lose, except that one time when Kojuro did.

“Come on, Kojuro, you have to take it off,” he said, pulling from his t-shirt and taking it off for him as he complained and sighed.

Masamune had already taken off everything but his underwear by that time, the enormous black dragon tattooed on his back in display, and Sasha was starting to regret her luck for being so good at poker. She thought of losing on purpose, but decided against it when she realised that ‘accidentally’ throwing her sake on her own shirt was a faster and easier way to start getting naked.

Masamune and her started ‘accidentally’ brushing against the other as they leaned on the table to take some coins, her hand landing a bit too high on his thigh when she laughed for something he had said, his arm touching lightly her bra when he was going to take the sake.

As expected, Masamune lost the next game too, so it was his turn taking off what he had left, making Nozomi look away, mortified. Sasha, then, decided she would sit on his lap to prevent her innocent friend from having to see his nakedness, and so she did. Facing him. Making out with him. As he unbuttoned her trousers.

“I’ll take you home,” Kojuro said.

“Thank you,” Nozomi replied.

 

Yukimura paced up and down his room, unable to take her sister out of his mind.

“Yukimura, dear, you won’t solve anything by worrying,” he heard Saizo say just as he fell from the ceiling, as usual.

“Saizo!” he exclaimed. “How was she? Was she hurt?”

“She was angry,” Saizo shrugged. “You’ll have to deal with her fury when she gets back.”

“I have to convince Shingen to go and rescue her,” he said.

“She will be fine,” Saizo insisted. “No one is going to dare hurting her. She looks like a beast when she’s angry.”

“Or I’ll go myself and...” Yukimura’s rambling was interrupted by Saizo’s lips on his. He put him roughly against the wall, his leg between his and Yukimura pulled of his hair, groaning into the kiss until he got Saizo to break it. “I hate it when you do that,” he said, his cheeks burning red.

“And I hate it when we are alone at the same room and you think of something else than me,” he playfully replied.

They kissed again, Yukimura unable to resist his lover’s urge.

 

Tsubasa’s room opened roughly and she turned with an angry look.

“I’ve been told you skipped dinner,” Nobunaga entered the room.

“Who has given you permission to enter?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“I don’t need permission. This is my house,” he sat next to her. “Eat.”

“Why?”

“If you don’t, your lover will kill me.”

Tsubasa slapped him on the face.

“Shingen is not my lover. And I wish he would kill you.”

Nobunaga took a hand to his cheek, amused.

“Are you upset? That’s why you are not eating?”

“I am not.”

“Want to take your mind out of what bothers you, woman?” he asked her, but she didn’t reply. “Can you play go?”

“Of course I can.”

“You’ll play with me. If I win, you’ll eat properly and warm my bed.”

“And if I do?” Tsubasa asked, disgusted at the idea of sleeping with her captor.

“You can order me anything you want to except for taking you back to Shingen’s.”

“That’s not fair. I have a restriction, you don’t.”

Nobunaga thought for a while.

“What if instead of giving yourself to me, I claim a part of your body as mine?” he smirked, content at the idea of making her surrender little by little.

“Sounds right to me,” she stood up.

“Let’s play,” he smirked.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsubasa loses her first game of go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes another chapter! This one was soo fun to write, and I hope you like reading it. If you like it, lease, let me know in the comments!
> 
> Thank you for reading <3

Tsubasa clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in frustration.

“I lost,” she said, bowing in front of the board.

“Yes, you did.”

Nobunaga had taken white and Tsubasa black due to their difference in level: Nobunaga was slightly better, though she had posed a real challenge for him. He thought he would be able to relax during the game, but that girl had pushed him and made him use all his wits for the game.

“Thank you for the game,” she politely looked up at him again.

“You are a strong opponent,” he acknowledged and his expression changed to a smirk again. “I can’t wait to have our next match. For the time being, give me your right hand.”

Tsubasa looked warily at him, but remembered their promise and stretched her hand out to him. He took it and planted a kiss on her palm, making Tsubasa flinch. He chuckled and kissed up to her middle finger, biting lightly the tip of it, which elicited goosebumps all over Tsubasa’s arm despite herself. He took her index finger between his teeth then, and bit it and licked it softly before letting it into his mouth. Tsubasa held in a breath and stared back at Nobunaga, who was watching intently her reactions.

He freed her finger and pulled of her wrist to bring her closer to him, making her gasp. She sat on his lap, making Nobunaga raise up an eyebrow in surprise. He didn’t think it was going to be that easy. He started teasing at her fingers again and Tsubasa let out a loud moan which almost surprised Nobunaga. She looked at him through half-closed eyelids and slid a second finger into his mouth, her breathing elaborated. He took her hand out of his mouth and smirked.

“This hand is mine,” he said.

Tsubasa caressed down his chest with her now free hand, stopping at his crotch, where she applied some pressure, making Nobunaga suck in a deep breath.

“Then it must be responsible of your pleasure,” she replied. Nobunaga opened his mouth to say something, but she interrupted him. “Never,” she brought her hand to her chest and moved away.

Nobunaga looked at her through narrowed eyes and started laughing.

“You are incredible,” he approached her and she walked backwards until her back hit the wall. “A bet is a bet, though, and your hand is mine.”

“Don’t trespass unspoken boundaries,” she warned him.

“You were the one who did just to tease me.”

He started kissing and biting the tip of her fingers again and just as she was going to complain, the door opened.

“Milord, the din...” Hideyoshi stopped talking as he saw the scene before him, his cheeks soon enough turning into a deep red. “Tsubasa, what are you doing to Lord Nobunaga?!”

“Seriously?!” she exclaimed as Nobunaga burst out laughing.

“Would you like to join us?” he asked him.

“He’s going to misunderstand everything!” Tsubasa hit Nobunaga on his chest.

“T-the dinner is getting cold, so go and eat it already, Tsubasa!!” Hideyoshi exclaimed and closed the door behind him.

Nobunaga huffed a laugh and took his bowl of konpeito which he had been eating throughout the game.

“I’ll accompany you through your dinner.”

“Tsk,” Tsubasa looked away from him, but lead the way to the dining room. There, they found Ieasu, the man with glasses, who was called Mitsunari, as Tsubasa had recently learned, Masamune and Hideyoshi, whose cheeks were still tinted with a light red. The latter cleared his throat as Nobunaga entered and the rest of them welcomed him, ignoring Tsubasa.

“Are you all going to watch me eat?” Tsubasa asked them.

“We need to discuss things about our strategy discovering who attacked us,” Mitsunari replied, his voice reflecting his innocent and good nature.

“This building is a fucking skyscraper with more than a hundred rooms, why do you have to discuss it here?”

“I told you I was going to keep you company,” Nobunaga stated with a self-sufficient smile and sat on the place of honour as Tsubasa did so at the furthest corner of the table.

“I never invited you.”

“You should feel honoured,” Hideyoshi told her.

“Oh, shut up, Hideyoshi.”

Masamune let out an open-mouthed laugh, extremely amused.

“So Sanada’s bird turned out to be a nightingale?” Nobunaga rested his chin on his hand as Tsubasa was served her food, staring at her. “You are more insolent during the night.”

“I am insolent whenever you address me, which happens to be during the night. So, watch out, I may be a raven.”

“And take out my eyes?” Nobunaga asked, amused.

“Precisely.”

“More a crow than a raven,” a voice echoed the room. Tsubasa looked up to find Mitsuhide coming in and sitting next to Masamune.

“Snakes should be afraid of birds, too.”

“Snakes eat their eggs, why wouldn’t they eat the grown-up animal?” he chuckled darkly.

“I don’t you, you tell me,” Tsubasa replied, turning to look at him.

“No snake is going to eat any bird which has an owner,” Nobunaga spoke up.

“Locking a bird in a cage doesn’t mean you own it,” Tsubasa said, standing up. “Even if you take its feathers or clip its wings, you can’t own the bird, or its song.”

“What does Nobunaga do to the bird that doesn’t sing?” Mitsuhide asked casually to Masamune.

Tsubasa’s lips drew a thin line.

“He can take its life and the bird would still be ownerless.”

She turned and went out of the room, her steps echoing in the corridor as she walked away.

“She would rather be free than live?” Nobunaga raised an eyebrow, smiling. “What an incredible woman.”

“I would be careful with her, Milord. After all, she’s still a Sanada,” Hideyoshi pointed out.

Nobunaga ignored him and proceeded talking about their next move.

Tsubasa got to her new room and looked through the window to the moon. What now? She was angry at the Takeda and Sanada for abandoning her, but she was not part of the Oda family either. She felt alone.

Some moments went by and she heard a soft knock on her door.

“What?” she spat out and the door was opened, revealing Hideyoshi at the other side.

“You didn’t have your dessert,” he said, bringing a plate with chocolate cake.

She took it, still frowning and started eating it as aggressively as she could.

“Why would you mind?”

“You don’t seem comfortable here,” Hideyoshi looked at her.

“How would I?”

“Nobunaga told us to make you feel comfortable and...”

“Well, in the first place, Nobunaga is the main reason why I feel uncomfortable. In the second place, how would I feel comfortable in my enemy’s house?!”

Hideyoshi sighed.

“You don’t have to be so defensive with Nobunaga. After all, he saved you and repaid his debt to you, but he still protects you keeping you safe in Azuchi.”

“He didn’t save me.”

Hideyoshi narrowed his eyes.

“Nobunaga told me. Just after you saw who you had saved, you started shouting, revealing your position to the people who were attacking Shingen’s palace, so he had to silence you. He could have left you in the streets, where you would have been killed for sure, but he took you to Azuchi despite the fact that you are his enemy’s direct family.”

Tsubasa widened her eyes in surprise. She hadn’t realised that.

“W-well, but I don’t need his protection now.”

Hideyoshi stood up, taking the empty plate where the chocolate cake was before.

“Where would you go instead? Back to the family that abandoned you? It’s dangerous out there. Just accept Nobunaga’s generosity in a better mood, alright?” he rubbed her hair, friendly, and Tsubasa’s frown relaxed, the gesture catching her unaware. “And be thankful,” he added, back to his scolding tone, at which Tsubasa stroke her tongue out. “Good night, Tsubasa,” he gave her the charming smile that had broken thousands of hearts before.

“Yeah, you too,” she couldn’t help but saying.

Nevertheless, there was no way she would be able to sleep after what Hideyoshi had said. Maybe he was right. She had nowhere else to stay: there was no way she was going back to her parent’s or Shingen’s, and Nobunaga was at least giving her exquisite food, a big, comfortable room, and even though he was a jerk, his skills at go were impressive and she couldn’t help but looking forward to their next game. Maybe she should follow Hideyoshi’s advice and enjoy her stay. Or be thankful.

She sighed and went out of bed, too nervous to sleep. She made her way to the kitchen to drink some water, but she heard some noise coming from it and decided to hide and get ready to scream if there was an intruder. Noiselessly, she took a pan and turned on the lights, only to see Nobunaga sitting up on the floor, the cupboard open before him open and emptied.

“What the...?” Tsubasa widened her eyes in surprise and Nobunaga rushed to her, a hand on her mouth, and turned off the lights again.

“Silence,” he whispered.

“What are you doing?” she spoke in an equally low voice.

“Hideyoshi hid my konpeito. Again.”

“Is he your mother?”

“What are _you_ doing here?”

“I’m thirsty,” she replied.

Nobunaga took a glass and filled it with water.

“Take this. Now, be quiet and don’t tell anyone what you’ve seen.”

Tsubasa looked at Nobunaga, her eyes finally getting used to the darkness.

“You’re going to be caught if you continue being this noisy,” she finally said. “I’ll help you looking for them,” she sighed.

Nobunaga looked up at her, his smirk noticeable even in the dark.

“How come?”

“I’m bored, alright?”

Helping him would be like thanking him, right? Not that Hideyoshi would have approved of that gesture, but...

They finally found the jar full of konpeito and Nobunaga and Tsubasa sat on the floor, knee against knee, at a corner of the kitchen.

“Aren’t you going to offer some to me?” she asked him.

“Why? This is mine.”

“It’s just polite, don’t me childish,” she snorted.

“Just take some if you want to.”

Tsubasa took one of the star-shaped sweets and took it to her mouth, surprised by their good flavour.

“These are wonderful,” she said.

“Of course they are,” Nobunaga smiled.

They kept on sharing konpeito in silence until Nobunaga felt something hit his shoulder softly. Tsubasa had fallen asleep.

 

Nozomi opened the door of the car just as Kojuro offered her his hand to help her out of it. She looked at him for some time and he stared back, both of them unwilling to part. Nevertheless, he worked for Shingen’s enemy, and she was the friend of Masamune’s enemy –the latter hadn’t seemed to mind, but one of the two had to be the responsible one.

“Take care,” Kojuro shook her hand.

“You too. Thank you for the lift,” she returned the gesture.

She saw how Kojuro took the hand she had shaken to her lips.

 

Sasha had arrived home safe after saying good bye to Masamune, who had had to go to Nobunaga’s. She was on a good mood after the good experience with Masamune, so she got ready for the shower, humming to herself a low melody. Then, she realised that she hadn’t asked him for his phone number. It was alright, though. She would find it somewhere or meet him in the streets. That wouldn’t be necessary, though. Masamune had written his phone number all over her back.

 

Yukimura had fallen asleep on Saizo’s naked chest as he caressed his hair. Saizo felt uneasy. He had managed to keep his dear Yukimura from worrying excessively about his sister, but he couldn’t help but fearing something may happen to her. Even if it didn’t, Yukimura’s relationship with her could deteriorate after they left her there, which would make him suffer.  
He closed his eyes and concentrated on his beloved’s breathing to try to calm down and, eventually, got to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobunaga takes Tsubasa for a ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes a new chapter! There's some fluff in this one, so I hope you'll like it :)
> 
> Thank you for reading <3

Life at Azuchi wasn’t too hard to get used to. It hadn’t passed but a couple of days and Tsubasa had already grown accustomed to waking up to find Hideyoshi or Ranmaru bringing her some breakfast, to the lazy mornings reading at the library with Mitsunari and, more often than not, Ieasu, having lunch alone and going to the garden on the roof of the building to go for a walk and write some haiku, where Masamune would find her if he was training. She would go, then, to take a bath on her own, the maids never accompanied her and she was the only lady of rank in the house, and afterwards Nobunaga would call her to have a crazy dinner with him and the rest of the yakuza.

“Our dear lass seems on a good mood today,” Masamune pointed out playfully.

“I’m just satisfied with the haiku I wrote today.”

“Do you write poetry?” Ieasu and Mitsunari asked at the same time, much for the former’s distress and the latter’s joy.

“She is Sanada’s black sheep,” Nobunaga said, amused. “Wanted to ignore her origins to become a poor writing dependant of Shingen’s generosity, born of his affection towards her.”

Tsubasa became red with anger.

“Watch out your mouth, lord of Fools.”

“It was only friendly teasing,” Nobunaga smirked, amused.

“Tsubasa, don’t address your benefactor li...”

“Nobunaga? My benefactor? That’s going a bit too far. And as for you, someone has to teach you how friendly teasing actually work. Someone other than Mitsuhide, by the way,” she pointed out, making him and Masamune laugh.

“Lord Nobunaga’s...”

“Hideyoshi, I’m very capable of speak for myself, thank you very much,” Nobunaga cut him off, irritated.

Tsubasa raised an amused eyebrow and looked at Hideyoshi whose expression turned, for a second, in a light pout.

“Oh, my God,” Tsubasa exclaimed and started laughing. “How can a grown up adult pout just for that!”

Hideyoshi would have replied to that if he hadn’t been too surprised at Tsubasa’s sudden burst of laughter. The rest of the men, too, looked at her, surprised, except for Masamune, who was laughing with her, too. She finally calmed down and looked around her to find Ieasu and Hideyoshi blushing lightly, Mitsunari looking at her fondly, Masamune and Mitsuhide extremely amused, and Nobunaga’s eyes on her, an undecipherable expression on his face which instantly turned into his usual smirk.

“Who would have said this nightingale had such a fine singing?” he said and Tsubasa looked at her plate, resuming her dinner, suddenly flustered. “I shall hear you laugh again. Tomorrow. Hideyoshi, have the horses prepared, we are going on a ride through my lands first thing in the morning.”

“M-milord...?”

“I want to make you laugh again just like that,” Nobunaga interrupted Hideyoshi, his eyes never leaving Tsubasa’s expression.

“I was growing tired of being indoors anyway,” she finally replied.

“Your cheeks are red, Tsubasa. Is it too hot?” Mitsuhide grinned.

“I’m glad that I won’t have to worry about seeing Mitsuhide’s face, too.”

Mitsunari called on Tsubasa the next morning to inform her that Nobunaga was waiting for her at the back door. She let him guide her and found Nobunaga on his horse, Hideyoshi standing right next to him, a big grin on his face.

“Are you ready?”

Tsubasa looked at the horse, unsure. She used to ride a horse when she was a little girl, but never since she fell when she was learning how to gallop had she dared to ride again. Not that she would let Nobunaga know of her weakness. She mounted with Hideyoshi’s help and looked at Nobunaga, expecting him to go first.

“Well, we are leaving now. We should be back around the time of lunch,” he informed Mitsunari and Hideyoshi. “Come on, Tsubasa,” he looked at her and hit the horse, sending him to gallop right away.

Tsubasa looked at him for a second and made her horse move too, saying goodbye to the men at the door. She went at walk and started trotting little afterwards, feeling more confident, though there was no sign of Nobunaga around. She took her time to admire the scenery around her. The lands were charming, full of trees and she was sure she could hear the sound of water nearby. Some moments later, she heard the a horse approaching.

“Are you always so slow?” Nobunaga stopped in front of her.

“I’m taking my time to enjoy your lands,” she replied, looking away from him.

Nobunaga raised an eyebrow.

“And?”

“And they’re to my liking.”

“Can you actually ride a horse?”

“Of course I can ride,” Tsubasa replied, her cheeks turning of a faint crimson despite herself.

Nobunaga looked at her, suspicious, and suddenly jumped from his horse to hers.

“What are you...?!”

“Go, girl!” he exclaimed as he hit the mare, making her go on gallop instantly.

Tsubasa let out a squeak and grabbed the front part of the chair, Nobunaga out of reach since he stood behind her. Suddenly, he felt a protective arm surrounding her, steadying her position on the horse.

“Take the reins,” he told her, his calm voice making her less anxious. She did as he told her. “That’s it. Now, don’t pull of them. You steady yourself with your legs, alright?”

Tsubasa nodded and tightened her thighs round the chair. Nobunaga loosened his hold on her, but didn’t let go.

“I understand you know the basics?” he said.

“I-I do,” she replied.

“Ok, then I’m going to let go, alright?”

She nodded and Nobunaga let go of her. She forced herself not to stop the horse.

“If it jumps, I’m going to die,” she assured him.

“If she jumps, you lean forwards and tighten your grab on her chair so that you don’t fall,” he replied, the smirk clear in his voice.

Tsubasa turned, narrowing her eyes in a moody look which only made him laugh.

“Come on, enjoy,” Nobunaga said.

“You can’t order me to enjoy something!” Tsubasa exclaimed, at which Nobunaga frowned. “I can’t believe you wanted me to enjoy something just because you said so!” she smiled despite herself.

“At least you’ve relaxed now,” he raised an eyebrow.

It was true. She looked ahead, feeling the wind on her face and for the first time in a long time, she let herself enjoy the speed and the feeling of freedom it sent through her body.

Suddenly, a fallen trunk appeared before her. She gasped and closed her eyes, leaning forwards as Nobunaga had ordered her. She felt Nobunaga’s hands on hers, forcing her not to pull from the reins as much as she wanted to, and her heart stopped on her chest as she felt the horse jumping the trunk. Nobunaga made the horse stop and Tsubasa dared to open her eyes, tears about to fall from them.

“Why are you so quiet?” Nobunaga asked after a while.

Tsubasa felt her heart about to burst out of her chest. She looked back at Nobunaga with a terrified expression.

“Don’t look at me like that, you’re alive aren’t you?”

She was. Oh, God, she was. Her shoulders started shaking with repressed emotion until she couldn’t take it anymore and started laughing loudly.

“Oh, my God, you’re crazy!” she yelled at Nobunaga between her laughter. “You let me ride even though you knew I couldn’t! How could you?!”

Nobunaga’s expression shifted from incredulous to a grin.

“Well, the worst thing that could have happened is that you got ourselves killed falling down a cliff,” he said.

“What?!” she asked, still chuckling. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I am.”

“Oh, God,” she hit his chest with her fist lightly, still unable to control her laughter.

Nobunaga just stared at her, amused. He took her right hand and kissed it, making Tsubasa startle.

“What are you doing?” she asked him, her tone incredibly soft and fond.

“You’re beautiful when you laugh, so I wanted to kiss you. I knew you wouldn’t let me, so I took what is already mine,” he grinned.

Tsubasa raised an eyebrow, giving him a cocky smile.

“Just as an exception, to celebrate we are alive, you may kiss me,” she said.

Nobunaga leaned forward, his expression matching with hers, and brushed his lips lightly with hers.

“Happy?” she asked him.

“Not quite, but I’ll content with this for now.”

She started the horse before he could keep talking.

 

Nozomi was changing Shingen’s bandages as he shamelessly stared at her.

“You know? Up until now I saw you as Tsubasa’s pet. Always following her around with a smile and never speaking if she didn’t address you first.”

“What’s that even supposed to mean?” Nozomi furrowed her eyebrows, truly pained.

“I was wrong,” he said. “I guess you can also be an independent human being.”

Nozomi looked up at him, angry, and saw his playful smile. Was he playing around with her? She put a new bandage on his injure, a bit too tightly, making him gasp.

“You shouldn’t be rude with the person who’s treating your wound,” she said.

“You’re right, sorry,” he chuckled. “It’s just that I think I’m getting to know you better. You could make a fine wife. Should I tell Yukimura to marry you? I could adopt you in the family if status is a problem.”

“I hope you’re kidding with that,” she sighed.

Shingen let out a loud, good humoured laugh, at which Nozomi couldn’t but smile softly.

“Hey, kid, look at me,” he said, and she did as he asked her. He took her by the chin and made her look into his eyes as he looked into her. “You have pretty eyes. If Yuki doesn’t take you, I will.”

Nozomi was about to move back, blushing fiercely, when Shingen put his lips on hers. She melted into the kiss until her senses went back to her and she tried to move back. As he wouldn’t let her, she slapped him on the face.

“You can’t just go and take whatever you want from people regardless of their feelings,” she exclaimed, her eyes teary, and stormed out of the room.

Shingen looked towards the way from which she had disappeared. What had that been? He took his hand to his cheek, warm from Nozomi’s blow, shocked. Wow. That girl was something after all.

 

Sasha started putting on her clothes as Masamune looked at her from the bed.

“Hey, lass, you miss your friend?” he asked her.

“Oh, of course I do,” Sasha replied, realising that he could actually ask Masamune to take her to see her. “Can you take me to Azuchi?”

“Sure,” he shrugged. What could go wrong?

 

Nobunaga and Tsubasa continued their walk in a more calm fashion. They dismounted the mare at the shore of a small stream. Nobunaga picked a stone and threw it, making it jump to the other side of the shore as Tsubasa sat next to him.

“Why do you want to unify the families?” she asked him, embracing her legs.

“To make us stronger,” he replied, continuing his activities. “The world is moving towards globalisation and international unification. The European ‘mafias’ are powerful and it won’t take too long for them to start coming to Japan and try to take over our power. We have to be prepared for that, so we should work together as a strong and powerful single force.”

Tsubasa nodded, looking at him.

“The continuous fights and wars between families only make us weak,” he added. “So we have to work together to fight a future, more powerful enemy.”

“But doesn’t Shingen have a point when he says that fighting to avoid war is pointless?”

“If that will make him surrender to the unification of the families, nothing is pointless.”

“Why doesn’t Shingen want to unify the families?” she asked him.

“He believes I’m a devil who only seeks my own benefit through gaining more power being the head of the families. If he has other reasons, I’m not aware of them,” he looked at Tsubasa.

She moved her gaze from him to the other side of the shore, her chin on her knees.

“I just wanted to live normally and not to get involved in the yakuza life.”

“If you wanted to do that, you should have looked for a part time job and rent a flat instead of living with Shingen. You are just running away from the cons of being from a yakuza family and embracing the pros.”

She looked up at him, angry.

“You have no idea.”

“Of course I do. I have been raised as the future head of the Oda family, but I have a sister too. She reminds me of you.”

“I would like to meet her, then, to have an ally between your fan club.”

He let out a loud laugh.

“You may be able to meet her some day. Now, we should go back before Hideyoshi gets mad at us for being late,” he said, stretching out his hand to help her up.

“You mean getting mad at _me_ for ‘distracting’ you.”

He started laughing again and helped Tsubasa on the horse.

“Do you feel confident enough to ride on your own?”

“Of course,” she huffed.

Nobunaga whistled and his horse appeared next to him after a while. He mounted graciously on it and Tsubasa would never acknowledge that the walk felt better having Nobunaga behind her.

 

“Tsubasa!” she heard a happy voice calling her.

“Sasha!” she rushed to her embrace. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to visit you, of course!” she replied.

“But how?” Tsubasa asked her, confused.

“Oh, Masa took me.”

“Masa?”

Tsubasa looked up from her to see Masamune, grinning right behind Sasha.

“Did you enjoy your walk, lass?”

“You two know each other?” Tsubasa asked Sasha, ignoring Masamune.

“Oh, yes, we do! We’ve been sleeping together for some time now.”

“Oh,” Tsubasa startled.

“Hey, Tsubasa, you should hurry to the dining room,” Masamune urged her.

“Oh, that’s right!” Sasha exclaimed. “Masa and I prepared lunch today.”

“I can’t wait to try it!” Tsubasa smiled.

Sasha’s visit felt too short for Tsubasa, even though they spent all evening together. Tsubasa talked to her about the Oda family members and Sasha told her about how the Takeda and Sanada were doing. Tsubasa tried not to show her concern for Shingen’s wound, nor her relief when Sasha told her Nozomi was taking care of it. She left with the promise that she would go back again.

Tsubasa went to her room after dinner with a sigh. She felt rather melancholic now that Sasha had left, but the memories of her ride with Nobunaga made her heart beat in her chest with a strange feeling of happiness she couldn’t identify. At that moment, the door of her room opened and Hideyoshi appeared behind it.

“Tsubasa? Nobunaga asks you to go to his room.”

She stood up and complied without much of a sigh. She entered his room and saw a goban already disposed in front of him.

“Are you ready for a second game?” he smirked and Tsubasa returned the smile. Yes, she was.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsubasa asks something from Nobunaga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes an especially fluffy chapter!!
> 
> I really hope you are liking this. Please, don't forget letting kudos or comments if you are!
> 
> Thank you for reading <3

“Your arrogance betrayed you,” Tsubasa looked at the board proudly.

“I lost,” Nobunaga acknowledged.

“You did,” she smirked, looking up at him, and bowed. “Thank you for the game.”

“Thank you for the game,” he imitated her, closing his metallic fan.

“Now, it’s my turn to ask something from you,” Tsubasa smiled.

Nobunaga looked at him, half amused, half wary.

“Ask.”

“Tell me something embarrassing about yourself,” she asked him, leaning her chin on her hand, an amused smile playing at her lips. Nobunaga raised an eyebrow.

“Something embarrassing?”

“Exactly.”

“... What a strange woman,” he replied, clearing his throat. He thought for a while as Tsubasa patiently waited for him to speak up. “Hideyoshi used to warm up my sandals in winter by keeping them close to his body.”

Tsubasa burst out laughing, amazed at the idea.

“Oh, but that’s embarrassing for Hideyoshi, not for yourself!! Come on, I know you can do it better.”

“It’s embarrassing since I had to stand the amused looks from the retainers,” he looked away from her, a light blush on his cheeks.

“Oh, but it’s not fair. Come on, tell me anything embarrassing about yourself. It doesn’t have to be too shocking.”

“You annoying...” he complained, frowning.

“Oda Nobunaga! I won this game!”

He let out a laugh and his blush intensified.

“Alright,” he said. “I’m ticklish.”

Tsubasa blinked for a couple of seconds.

“What?”

“Do I have to repeat it?”

“You are ticklish,” her lips moved upwards as she held back a chuckle.

“I believe that’s what I said,” he replied, giving her an annoyed look.

“Aaaw,” she started chuckling.

“What’s with that reaction?”

“It’s kind of cute,” she laughed. “Oda Nobunaga, the demon king, is ticklish!”

Nobunaga startled and took his bowl of go stones, which he settled on the board with a loud noise.

“We shall play again.”

“Alright,” Tsubasa replied in a good mood, smiling at Nobunaga in a rather tender way.

Nobunaga raised an eyebrow, noticing that look, but said nothing. She put the first stone on the board and their second game began.

 

Nozomi was sitting at the garden, the artificial light of a lamp illuminating the canvas she was filling with warm colours, depicting the cherry trees about to bloom in Shingen’s garden. She put down the brush and stared at the sky, illuminated by the moon. She had spent all day mad at Shingen, and even though she got angry again every time she remembered his attitude, she was starting to get tired of being gloomy, which wouldn’t do any good to her painting either.

She sighed and started tidying up her things when she heard someone sitting next to her, on the floor. She looked down and saw Shingen eating some chocolates.

“Hey,” he casually said.

“Hey,” she replied, too surprised to reply in an angry manner.

He raised the bowl and looked up at Nozomi with inviting eyes. She took one, hesitant, and put it in her mouth, letting it melt in her tongue, savouring the sweet flavour of chocolate.

“They’re nice, aren’t they?” Shingen asked her.

“They are.”

“Tsubasa actually bought them for you,” he said, looking at her from the corner of his eye. “She will get mad at me when she finds out I’ve taken some, too.”

“Just give them all to me,” Nozomi let herself smile faintly.

Shingen let out a chuckle.

“Alright, all yours,” he gave her the bowl. “I guess you’re still upset at me?”

“I am,” she replied, taking the bowl and bringing another chocolate to her mouth.

“I guess I was... presumptuous? I never thought someone would deny me a kiss.”

Nozomi snorted.

“It’s not about the kiss. You behaved like a jerk, telling me I’m like Tsubasa’s pet and that I should marry Yukimura. The kiss was only the last straw.”

“Alright, the Yukimura thing was just a joke, alright?” Shingen replied, raising his arms. “And what I meant now was that I was starting to notice what kind of person you are now that Tsubasa is not around. And I like it,” he winked.

Nozomi tried to prevent her cheeks from lightening up.

“So you’re implying that Tsubasa eclipses me.”

“Look, I love Tsubasa, but she’s noisy,” Shingen laughed. “It’s not that she eclipses you, it’s that when she’s around, she’s everywhere. On top of that, you’re quiet,” he said, standing up to face Nozomi. “You’re quiet, but attentive and delicate,” he took a lock of her hair in his hand and leaned closer to her to bring it to his mouth. “You seem to notice the smallest details around you, and you’re artistic,” he looked briefly towards her picture, and back at her, smirking. “I’m glad I’m starting to discover you.”

Nozomi looked up at him, blushing fiercely, her breath caught up in her throat.

“That’s the kind of thing you say before kissing someone,” she said.

“I guess you give me leave, then,” he chuckled lowly.

Nozomi nodded and Shingen put a hand on her chin to part her lips lightly and leaned forward to kiss her.

 

“I lost,” Tsubasa acknowledged.

It had been impossible to win Nobunaga in that second game. It had been impossible for her to have sente[1] or control the direction of the game, and she had lost. But Nobunaga was exhausted. It had not only been a hard game, but the second one that afternoon. Nevertheless, he still had some energy left to make his claim.

Tsubasa looked from the board to Nobunaga, more amused at how the latter had been fighting so hard to win than frustrated at her loss. She bowed and Nobunaga sat right next to her, unwilling to lose any more time, and lifted her head. He tilted it to the left and nibbled at the lobe of her ear softly, making her suck in a breath.

He licked up the side of her ear and she gasped when he bit it. He continued kissing, licking and biting her as she tried to hold back her moans and not to blush.

“Well, that’s enough,” she said, trying to make her breathing not to sound too shaky.

“Are you sure?” Nobunaga smirked.

“Quite,” she replied, pushing him back and standing up. “I’m going to sleep now.”

“Good night, princess,” he smirked.

 

“You are making both of us suffer,” Masamune said with a serious countenance as Sasha buttoned up her shirt.

Her stomach replied for her.

“As angsty as it is, I can’t live on sex alone.”

“Ok, let’s do something. Put this on,” he said, throwing his jacket to her. She caught it, intrigued, and he put on his clothes and led the way to the kitchen, where he took some leftovers. “Follow me.”

“Where are we going?” Sasha asked.

“You’ll see,” he winked.

He took her to his garden, which she contemplated, fascinated by its beauty.

“Shogetsu!” Masamune exclaimed, putting his right hand next to his mouth to amplify the sound of his call.

Sasha sat on the grass, looking at him while she started eating the food he had given her. Suddenly, a fur ball appeared in front of them, running on their direction, and Masamune received it with open arms, petting it with a laugh. Sasha let out a squeak at its sight and approached them.

“Oh, my God, it’s too cute.”

“Sasha, let me introduce you to Shogetsu.”

Caring little about the fact that Masamune’s pet was a baby tiger, which he had probably acquired illegally, Sasha petted him, played with him, and the three of them spent a lovely afternoon.

 

Tsubasa’s foot landed on Nobunaga’s face.

“Oh, God, I’m sorry!” she exclaimed, approaching Nobunaga, who had a hand on his cheek, where he had kicked him.

She had gone to his room that afternoon and asked him to play go. He had accepted with a grin, for that was the first time Tsubasa was the one asking for a game. Nobunaga had won and put her against the floor right away, taking her foot when he had done just so and kissed it, which had resulted in her kicking his face.

“I hate when people touch my feet,” she said, taking his hand. “Let me take a look.”

“You didn’t injure me,” Nobunaga replied. “Now, shall we continue?” he asked in a rather bad mood, though more eager to claim his price than ever.

“With my foot?” Tsubasa asked, worried. “I told you, I...”

“I’m claiming your whole leg.”

“... what?!”

Nobunaga’s smirk returned to his face as he leaned towards her, pushing her against the floor and making her open her legs to kneel between them. Tsubasa looked at him, expectant, as he lowered himself to kiss her knee, which made her gasp.

“I’m ticklish round that area,” she said, a light blush starting to crawl to her cheeks.

“This isn’t going to tickle,” Nobunaga smirked, biting her inner thigh.

Tsubasa let out a low moan, which made her feel Nobunaga’s grin against her skin. He started licking and biting up her thigh, lifting her skirt with his right hand in the process. He pushed her leg lightly and licked between her thigh and her underwear, making her groan in frustration. He let out a breath between her legs, and she arched her back.

“Nobunaga, you idiot,” she groaned. She was about to tangle her finger in his hair to lead him to her wet underwear, when the door opened.

“Milord?” Hideyoshi called him, and startled when he saw the scene unfolding in front of him.

“Whatever you may need?” Nobunaga frowned, never leaving his position between her legs.

Tsubasa shot a glance towards Hideyoshi.

“I...The... We are waiting for you to start the war council,” he replied, looking everywhere but at him or Tsubasa.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” Nobunaga said and kissed Tsubasa’s inner thigh, standing up.

Tsubasa stood up, fixed her skirt and walked pass them, clearly on a bad mood. Nobunaga chuckled as she disappeared in the corridor and Hideyoshi stood silent all the way to the meeting room.

 

[1] Go term which means initiative.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsubasa makes her next demand after winning a game of go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes a new chapter!
> 
> Sorry for the delay, I've been busy these past days, but I want to go back to uploading frequently.
> 
> There's some smut towards the end of the chapter and I've changed the warnings, so, please, take a look at them before reading.
> 
> I hope you like it and thank you for reading <3

Tsubasa bowed before the board as Nobunaga looked at the result, content.

“You’ve been improving,” he smirked.

“Thank you for the game,” she said as all reply, looking up at him with a smile.

“What do you want?” his countenance became serious again, although his eyes still kept a playful look.

“I want to go outside.”

Nobunaga looked at her for a while, all playfulness vanished.

“What do you mean?”

“I want to go to the streets. Go for a walk, enjoy the city. I’m not used to being locked up in a house and I am starting to get frustrated.”

“You can go for a walk round the gardens or my lands. Why would you want to go outside?”

“I feel imprisoned here,” she insisted, frustrated.

“And I guess I am you jailor,” Nobunaga said with an undecipherable expression. Tsubasa opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted. “You are not going,” Nobunaga concluded, resolved. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I won! We had a deal!! I want to go out!”

“Why do you have to be so stubborn?”

“Oda Nobunaga, I...!”

The door opened and Masamune appeared behind it, interrupting their conversation.

“Nobunaga, regarding...”

“Masamune!” Tsubasa pointed at him. “Nobunaga and I made a deal and I’m going out tomorrow. It should be alright if you came with me, right?” she turned to look back at Nobunaga, who was staring at her with an unmoved look.

“No,” he said.

“Come on, Nobunaga,” Masamune said, passing an arm round Tsubasa’s shoulders. “The lass wants to go for a stroll. It shouldn’t be dangerous if we escort her.”

Nobunaga rubbed his temple with his fingers, sighing. It was true that she had won the game and could ask anything from him except going back to Shingen’s, and he was a man of word. Nevertheless, if someone found out Tsubasa was with them, their alliance and temporary truce with the Takeda would be made clear to their enemies.

“We’ll go incognito,” Nobunaga concluded with a sigh, making Tsubasa smile broadly and Masamune smirk. “And you’ll stay always within out sight.”

“Of course,” she smiled, and for a moment Nobunaga found his words worth it if only to see her expression of happiness.

 

“Hey, lass, we’re going to escort Tsubasa in a walk round the city. Are you coming?” Masamune asked Sasha.

“Sounds almost like a date,” Sasha raised an eyebrow with an amused smile.

“It is a date, then.”

“Only you could go on a date with someone while escorting a lady,” she chuckled.

“And only you would accept.”

 

Tsubasa walked ahead of Nobunaga, Masamune and Hideyoshi, enjoying the smell of the food tents in the city, and the strawberry and banana smoothie she had bought but a second ago. She looked around her, attentive, in case she found any familiar face in the crowd. She stopped to take a look at the cute phone charms at a shop window and the fans of the other, a purple one with flowers and a white cat calling her attention.

Nobunaga, some steps behind, looked at the direction of Tsubasa’s gaze and let out a small smile of fondness, somehow happy that Tsubasa seemed to be enjoying herself even walking on her own. Masamune looked to his right, where Sasha was standing, intertwining her little finger with his as she joked about hanging from his patch some of those phone charms she was looking at. Hideyoshi looked around him, keeping watch in case there was any suspicious person around them.

She stopped in front of some musicians who were playing at the streets and looked at them for a while. Some people stood next to her, making the yakuza lose sight of her for a second. Nobunaga and Hideyoshi became anxious, so they opened way between all that people to look for her, but she was nowhere to be found.

Tsubasa had tried to move closer to the musicians, but had ended up being dragged by the crowd to a way near an alley. Wanting to take a breath of fresh air, she had gone into it, keeping an eye on the main street just in case she saw Nobunaga and the rest. Three men entered the narrow street and looked at her, smirking. She didn’t like the look of things, so tried to walk away entering the alley even further, but the men followed her, asking her to hold on and wait for them.

She started quickening her pace, but one of them took her by the wrist.

“Hey, look at me, baby doll,” he gave her a repugnant smile, his ears and eyebrows full of piercings and tattoos showing on his neck and arms.

“Let go of me,” she said, freeing herself with a movement of her arm, but another of the men placed himself in front of her.

“Where are you going, kitty?” he asked her and pushed her against the other man, who dragged her to a dead-end alley.

“Take your filthy hands of me,” she exclaimed, fighting against them, but one of them hit her face, sending her to the floor, as another put himself on her, pulling from her t-shirt, which uncovered her left shoulder.

“That’s the symbol of the Sanada!” he exclaimed.

Another took her by the chin and made her look up at him.

“This will be such a beautiful present for Kenshin,” he grinned, showing his teeth, two of them golden.

“Kenshin?” she widened her eyes in surprise.

“Take your hands of her,” she heard Nobunaga’s deep and powerful voice.

She turned her head as one of the men stood up to defy him. Hideyoshi, Masamune and Nobunaga drew their katanas and the men finally freed Tsubasa, drawing their arms too. She instantly stood up and, before she knew what she was doing, she flew to Nobunaga’s arms, startling him. He passed a protective arm round her shoulders and squeezed her reassuringly against him.

“You have no idea what you’ve done by touching her,” Nobunaga looked at them, condescending.

He let go of Tsubasa and the three yakuza started fighting against the men who had attacked her, winning easily. The men were sitting on the floor, bruised and injured, as Hideyoshi and Masamune questioned them.

“Are you alright?” Nobunaga asked Tsubasa, caressing her injured cheek with his thumb. She nodded, still in shock, and leaned on his touch, making him hold back a breath.

“Please, spare our lives,” one of them begged. He moved closer to Tsubasa, his eyes begging for mercy. At that moment, Nobunaga took a gun from his jacket and shoot at the man between his eyes, some blood staining Tsubasa’s feet.

She looked with wide horrified eyes at the man in front of him and held back a yell.

“Why did you do that?” she moved away from Nobunaga, horrified, as he gave her a serious look.

“Tsubasa, you...” Hideyoshi started speaking, but was interrupted by her.

“You... you are a monster! How could you kill him? He was begging for mercy!” she let herself fall on the floor, her face hidden behind her hands.

“Tsub...”

“Hideyoshi, let her be,” Nobunaga ordered him. “We are going back to Azuchi. We should have never gone out to the city in the first place. Masamune, take the men with us.”

“Yes, milord.”

Hideyoshi helped Tsubasa up as Nobunaga led the way to the car he had called for. Masamune guarded the men, pointing at them with his gun. Tsubasa sat on the seat further from Nobunaga, right next to Hideyoshi as she leaned on his shoulder, the man giving a troubled look to his lord. Nobunaga looked away from them, and focused on talking to Masamune, who had his arm round Sasha’s shoulders.

They arrived to Azuchi and Tsubasa went straight to have a bath and back to her room afterwards. She lied on the bed, staring at the ceiling, her mind spinning with thoughts of anger, sadness and shock. Just as she was starting to think that she could see through Nobunaga and was starting to befriend him, he had to go and do that. On the other hand, that had been the man who attacked her, but did he had to go that far? Hadn’t he forgiven the other two? Then why had he killed the one who begged for mercy?

She heard a light knock on her door and Hideyoshi’s voice asking her if he could enter. She replied affirmatively and he walked into the room and sat on the bed next to her.

“How are you?” he asked, pouring some tea he had brought on a cup.

“I feel terrible,” she replied. “I... I don’t know what to think, I...”

“You really have no idea why Nobunaga killed that man?” Hideyoshi asked, serious, and Tsubasa shook her head. “That man was hiding a gun under his jacket. He was taking it out as he begged for mercy.”

Tsubasa looked at Hideyoshi in shock as he looked into her eyes for any reaction.

“I have to apologise.”

“You do,” Hideyoshi gave her a tender smile and rubbed her hair.

“Thank you, Hideyoshi!” she exclaimed, going out of her room, and Hideyoshi nodded.

Tsubasa rushed to Nobunaga’s room and knocked the door. She looked at it, unsure. What was she going to say to him? She had called him terrible things as he had only saved and cared for her. She almost wished the door wouldn’t open, but it did.

“You,” Nobunaga gave her a serious look. “What do you want?”

“Let me in,” she commanded, walking pass him.

“Aren’t you afraid of being alone with a monster?” he asked her, smirking in a challenging way.

“You are no monster, Oda Nobunaga,” she exclaimed and his countenance turned serious. “Why didn’t you tell me that man had a gun?”

“You didn’t need to know that,” he replied, sitting at his table. “Did Hideyoshi tell you?”

“I did need to know that. I... I called you terrible things. I insulted you. I got mad at you!” she yelled at him, but his features didn’t show any emotion. “You were right,” Tsubasa looked at the floor. “I’m a naïve person who wants to live in an illusion of freedom and enjoy the good things of belonging to a yakuza family while avoiding the cons, but since I started knowing you I’ve wanted to change that,” she looked up at him. “I want to understand you. I may not approve of your forms or means, but I do want to understand you and know your goals.”

Nobunaga stood up and walked towards her.

“You still don’t approve of my murdering?”

“I don’t, but I don’t think you’re a monster either,” she replied, caressing his cheek with her hand. “Even if only for a second I’ve seen a tender look behind the coldness of your eyes. I’ve seen your warm smile, I’ve heard your tender laugh. I...”

“For a moment I thought I had lost you,” Nobunaga said, taking her hand and kissing the palm. “The next time I win at go I will claim your heart. I will forbid it from stopping beating.”

Tsubasa let out a chuckle.

“Oda Nobunaga, the Sixth Demon King, the Lord of Fools and the owner of Sanada Tsubasa’s hand. It suits you.”

Nobunaga frowned.

“Don’t make fun of me.”

“I’m not making fun of you, I really think it suits you,” she said, freeing gently her hand from his and wrapping her arms round his waist to lean on his chest.

He returned the embrace and put his chin on her hair.

“When you freed yourself from those men, you run to me. Why?” he asked her, his tone demanding.

Tsubasa’s cheeks turned crimson, and she was glad he couldn’t see her face.

“I felt I would be safe by your side.”

He let out a cocky smirk and took her chin to make her look up at him.

“I guessed so.”

“Nobunaga, you already own my heart,” Tsubasa confessed him. “I wish to give myself to you completely without you having to win a single game of go.”

She looked at him, nervous. She had just confessed, encouraged by the small displays of affection she had got from the man, but she was not sure if he felt the same way. He caressed her lips and down her neck, shoulder and arm to take her left hand, bring it to his lips and kiss it.

“It had always been an unfair bet,” Nobunaga said against her knuckles. “I have had to win you little by little and you got me all at once with that nightingale singing of yours.”

Tsubasa chuckled, happy, and stood on her tiptoes to place a tender kiss on Nobunaga’s lips. He returned the kiss and she deepened it, unwilling to lose a single moment now that she understood her own feelings and Nobunaga’s. He tangled his fingers on her long black hair and Tsubasa pulled from his shirt as she walked backwards towards his desk. He sat her on it and they took off their clothes calmly, enjoying the feeling of the other’s body, rejoicing in the feeling of their lips against the other’s skin, their caresses, their panting and low moans of calm and quiet pleasure.

He entered her and she let out a shaky breath as they moved their bodies, seeking pleasure and release. They embraced when they finished, Tsubasa filling Nobunaga’s shoulders with tiny kisses as he smiled against her forehead. At that moment, they heard a knock against the door.

“Milo...”

“Hideyoshi, I swear to God if you enter this room right now, I won’t address you in the whole day.”

“... See you at the meeting room, milord.”

Tsubasa chuckled and Nobunaga let out a groan of frustration.

“Go,” she chuckled and gave him a peck on his lips.

“Are you coming?” he asked.

“Sure.”

And so they went to the meeting room to discuss what would be their next move against their common enemy.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A war with the Uesugi is about to start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the next chapter!!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and your support, it really means a lot.
> 
> I hope you like it <3

Tsubasa entered the meeting room, Nobunaga’s hand behind her back to guide her in, and startled at the sight of Saizo. She rushed to his arms and embraced him, asking him a hundred of questions about Yukimura and Shingen, which he patiently replied. Nobunaga sat on his chair, smiling at Tsubasa, who placed herself behind him when she finished talking to Saizo. Hideyoshi opened the computer and started a video call with Shingen and Yukimura. Tsubasa was more reserved with them than with Saizo, hurt as she still was at their abandoning her, but when they showed her their concern about her well-being she let down her walls and started showing them she was alright and sharing some concerns of her own about her.

“We captured some men from the Uesugi family today,” Nobunaga said. “Apparently, Kenshin is responsible for the attack to our houses.”

“He has other plans to attack us, but we couldn’t find out where or how,” Masamune continued. “We’ve thought of a strategy to get to them before they can.”

“I’m all ears,” Shingen replied, so they passed the computer to Mitsunari, who went on to explain how they were to proceed.

After the meeting, Tsubasa left the room, tired, eager to go to sleep after all the emotions of the day. She thought the rest of them were going to stay discussing their plan at the meeting room, but a hand grabbed her wrist.

“I believe my room is upstairs,” she heard Nobunaga’s voice whispering in her ear.

She raised an eyebrow and turned, passing her arms round his neck.

“Am I sleeping in your room?” she asked with a cocky smile of her own.

“I don’t see why not,” Nobunaga replied, a playful tint on his eyes.

“Alright, I guess.”

He kissed her forehead and called the lift. She entered it, her back towards the wall as she grabbed Nobunaga by the tie, leading him in with her. They kissed as the door closed and started unbuttoning the other’s shirt, Tsubasa caressing the naked chest of Nobunaga’s chest as he cupped her breasts over her bra. He kissed down her neck and she let out a sigh just as the doors opened. She wrapped her legs round his waist and he took them out of the lift, tossing his and Tsubasa’s shirt on the corridor as they continued kissing.

He took her to his bed and placed himself between her legs after taking off her trousers, to tease her over her underwear, making her groan in frustration. She took it off and he started licking her wetness until she reached her orgasm, though she was far from satisfied.

She made him lie on the bed and sat on his lap, rubbing his hardness with her hand after taking off his trousers and underwear. She led him to her entrance and rode him until they were done.

Nobunaga caressed her naked back with the tip of his fingers as she started closing her eyes, intertwining his free hand with hers.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “I conquered a charming bird, didn’t I?” he smirked.

“Mmm...” Tsubasa hummed. “You’re beautiful too,” she said, moving closer to him to lie on his chest.

“Are you tired?”

“Of course I am. Today was a long day.”

Nobunaga looked at the ceiling.

“It was.”

He started to feel his eyelids heavy and, before he realised, he had fallen asleep.

 

“What are you doing?” Nozomi heard Shingen’s voice whispering in her ear.

She startled and turned her head to the right, where Shingen was standing, looking at her with a grin.

“I’m finishing my painting,” she replied, her heart still racing from the surprise and Shingen’s sudden closeness.

“Can I take a look?” he asked, leaning his chin on her shoulder.

“I guess you won’t take a ‘no’ for an answer.”

He let out a soft laugh.

“If you really don’t want me to look I can refrain.”

“It’s alright,” she sighed.

They stood like that for a while until Shingen spoke up again.

“I talked to Tsubasa today. She looks fine.”

“Of course she’s fine,” Nozomi replied. “She’s a strong woman. You should know it already.”

“I do know it. It’s just... it’s frustrating not being able to be there to offer her protection.”

“Hey,” she called his attention. He moved back to look at her and she stained his cheek with green paint, using her brush. “You can’t protect everyone.”

“Try me,” he smirked, sinking his finger in blue paint and staining Nozomi’s cheek with it.

“What are you doing?!” she exclaimed, holding back laughter.

“You started,” he chuckled.

“Because you are too full of yourself,” she replied, painting his nose with yellow paint.

“I am not,” he replied, and put some red paint on her forehead.

“You are!” she laughed, continuing the paint war.

“Well, I may be, but it’s justified.”

She laughed and ran away from him, but he caught her by the waist and lifted her, making her giggle.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked her before he fell on the floor, Nozomi sitting on his lap.

“I’m running away from you before you stain my hair,” she moved back to face him, chuckling.

He took the chance to press his lips against hers. She returned the kiss and he deepened it, putting her against the floor and making both of them roll on it as they continued making out and chuckling. He let go of her and she lied next to him, their breathing heavy. Shingen took her hand in his.

“Are you going to stay for the Hanami?” he asked her.

“I guess,” she replied, looking at him. “Do you want me to?”

“I do,” Shingen replied, taking her hand to his lips. “I have never felt this way before,” he confessed.

“What do you mean?” Nozomi asked.

“Before I met you, I sought loneliness when I felt distressed. Now, I look for you everywhere. Whether I feel hopeful, tired, or anxious, I always want to share my emotions with you.”

She looked at him in silence, her heart storming in her chest, her cheeks deep red.

“Does it scare you?” she asked him.

“Nothing scares me,” he replied. “But I wouldn’t want you to leave.”

“I’ll stay as long as you want me to,” she replied.

Shingen moved to lie on his side, facing her.

“Then stay forever,” he said and leaned closer to her to kiss her. He put his hand on her belly and moved it to the folding of her yukata. “Is this alright?” he asked her.

She nodded and he entered it, squeezing her breast softly and she let out a low moan. He took off the upper part of his yukata and lied on her to nib and bite on her neck as she caressed the lines of the tiger tattoo of his back which she liked so much.

“Tell me if there’s something you don’t want to do,” Shingen said, his eyes filled with lust and desire.

But there was nothing she wouldn’t have wanted to do with a man that made love so sweetly... most of the time.

 

Tsubasa woke up with the sun light entering the window of Nobunaga’s room. She sighed and closed her eyes again, unwilling to wake up, and caressed Nobunaga’s chest. Seeing that she was unable to fall asleep again, she looked up at the asleep man, his chest rising and falling slowly as he took in deep breaths. She crawled up to meet his lips with hers, which awoke him. He returned the kiss, still sleepy.

“I’ sorry I woke you up,” Tsubasa smiled at him, moving some of his black locks of his forehead.

“It’s the first time in forever that I sleep so well,” Nobunaga confessed. “So it’s alright. In fact you probably did well waking me up,” he said, and as if to affirm his words, a light knock was heard on his door.

“Lord Nobunaga, we are about to proceed with the plan,” they heard Mitsuhide’s voice as he opened the door. He entered the room followed by Masamune and our poor Hideyoshi, who stared at Tsubasa and Nobunaga with a confused look.

Masamune smirked and Mitsuhide raised an eyebrow, amused.

“Didn’t know you were so busy,” he said.

“Good morning, lass. Did you have a good night?” Masamune asked her, his smirk never faltering.

“More than good, Masamune.”

“Is time already?” Nobunaga asked them.

“We would need you to be ready in five minutes,” Hideyoshi cleared his throat, eager to get into business. “I’m glad you slept until late, though. Your sleeping habits were getting unhealthy,” he added with a soft smile.

“Did he go to sleep early, though?” Mitsuhide asked, earning a laugh from Masamune.

“I’ll be ready in less than five minutes,” Nobunaga continued.

“Hey, guys, I don’t know how you are used to seeing Nobunaga, but I do need to get dressed in private, so if you could leave the room,” Tsubasa said with an annoyed look.

They finally left the room after a couple of teasing comments from Mitsuhide and Masamune and a flustered one by Hideyoshi, and Tsubasa and Nobunaga got ready to leave for breakfast.

“You should get a lock,” she said.

“I can’t, they’re my clock.”

“Buy one,” she snorted, making him laugh.

“Before I forget,” he said, opening one of the drawers of his desk. “This is for you,” he gave her a wrapped small, elongated box.

She took it, curious, and opened it to discover the fan she had been staring at during her walk round the city.

“Wow, it’s beautiful,” she smiled.

“I saw you were interested in it and thought I might as well get it for you before you got all whiny about it,” he said, making her laugh.

“Thank you, Nobunaga, I really love it.”

He smiled and kissed her passionately.

“This is to remind you of what awaits you after I’m done with my duties today,” he smirked.

She raised an eyebrow, amused, and watched him leave the room. Oh, God, she couldn’t wait for the night.

 

Yukimura dragged Saizo into continuing celebrating that the following day they would attack the Uesugi family. The preparations with the Oda family for the surprise attack had gone better than expected and all of Shingen’s men were excited at the prospect of a fight, so they had spent that night drinking and enjoying themselves before the next day’s war. All of the men had gone already to sleep, but Yukimura insisted that he wanted to continue partying, and of course he wanted Saizo to be with him.

“Yukimura, dear, you should rest for tomorrow,” Saizo patiently repeated a third time.

“Saizoooo, I’m *hiccup* so happy that this is going to be settled tomorrow *hiccup*,” he said, embracing his waist and almost crying. “Tsubasa *hiccup* will be back home tomorrow *hiccup*.”

“I know, darling, you’ve repeated it a hundred times,” he sighed.

“Saizzzooooo, you don’t look happy,” Yukimura pouted.

The ninja finally opted for taking him on his shoulder and bringing him to bed himself, willing to make him exhausted if he wouldn’t go to sleep on his own.

 

Tsubasa sat on her usual spot at the table with the rest of the yakuza. She was on a good mood since she had been informed that the preparations for the next day were ready and she was quite optimistic that everything would go pretty well. She smiled up at Nobunaga, who was looking at her as the rest of the men chatted animatedly.

“This food tastes slightly different,” Mitsuhide suddenly pointed out. “Is there a new maid at the kitchen?” he asked, giving a significant look to Tsubasa.

Her cheeks went deep red and she looked at him with surprise and anger.

“I have no idea, why do you ask me?” she said.

“I just happened to look at you,” he replied.

“Is there?” Nobunaga smirked.

“Oh, but didn’t you tell me you had heard the maids talking about Tsubasa helping at the kitchen?” Mitsunari naïvely asked Hideyoshi, who winked and put his index finger against his lips to ask him to be quiet.

“Did she?” Ieasu asked. “I didn’t know she could be useful.”

“Watch that spicy tongue of yours, Ieasu,” Tsubasa shot a glance at him.

“It’s not too bad,” Ieasu whispered, a small smile betraying his pose.

Tsubasa couldn’t help but letting out a chuckle.

“Somehow tasteless,” Mitsuhide smirked.

“Your tongue is too full of poison to be able to taste anything properly,” Tsubasa narrowed her eyes, looking at him, and he and Masamune laughed.

“Next time, I’ll help you, lass,” Masamune winked.

“Whatever, I was just bored,” she said, looking away from him and at Nobunaga from the corner of her eye. He let out a laugh, good humoured.

“Mitsuhide, Tsubasa is right, this tastes good.”

Tsubasa smirked, proud, and stretched her tongue out at an amused Mitsuhide. She looked at Nobunaga, who had his eyes still on her, a promise of a lovely night shining in them. She just loved nights like that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nobunaga and Shingen go to war versus Kenshin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes a new chapter! There are not many left, so I hope you are enjoying it.
> 
> Thank you for reading <3

“Be careful,” Tsubasa said, waving goodbye to Nobunaga and the rest of the yakuza at the door.

“Wait for me,” Nobunaga grinned, confident, and kissed Tsubasa’s lips. “Take this,” he added, giving her a small gun. “Just in case you need to protect yourself while we are out.”

Tsubasa took the gun, frowning at the idea of having to use it and even having it around, but wanting to leave Nobunaga at ease as he went to fight.

“You take this,” she said, taking off her hair pin and giving it to Nobunaga. “It will bring you luck.”

He grinned and put it in a pocket close to his heart.

“One last kiss,” he commanded her lips and she complied.

“Aren’t you going to wish us good luck, too, Tsubasa?” Masamune asked, amused.

“Sasha has already fulfilled that duty towards you,” she winked. “And of course I wish you good luck, just don’t expect me going kissing you guys around.”

“Let’s go!” Nobunaga ordered, entering his car, and the rest of the men did just so as Tsubasa waved her hand at them.

As the men were facing Kenshin, Sasha decided she would drag Nozomi with her to Azuchi and visit Tsubasa. She, of course, received them with open arms, more than happy to see her friends, especially Nozomi, since she hadn’t heard from her in what felt like forever. The three of them sat in one of the comfortable living rooms of the building, the one closer to Tsubasa’s old room, and had some tea.

“Tsubasa, I... I have to confess something to you,” Nozomi said, her countenance reflecting anxiety.

“What is it?” she encouraged her.

“I’m in love with Shingen,” she acknowledged, looking up at her.

“... whut?” Tsubasa looked at her, puzzled.

“I have always been,” she bit her lower lip. “And lately...”

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me?! I could have arranged a date for you two!” she exclaimed, truly surprised. “And what is it that you like of that little idiot?”

“He-he has been showing interest in me lately,” Nozomi proceeded with what she wanted to say.

Tsubasa’s face changed into a big grin and she took her friend’s hands.

“Really? That’s fantastic, isn’t it? Be careful, though, that man is a crazy head and I don’t want him to give you false expectations.”

“I know, but... aren’t you upset?” she asked her, worried.

“Eh? Me? Why? Wouldn’t it be awesome if you two dated for real? You would be like my sister in law,” she smiled broadly. “And his parents want him to get married, and...”

“Hold on, we are not even dating!” Nozomi exclaimed, good humoured at Tsubasa’s positive reaction even though Sasha looked at her with an ‘I told you’ expression.

“If he breaks your heart, I’ll break his legs,” Tsubasa said with a too-adorable face.

“...I’ll tell him,” Nozomi let out a shaky laugh.

“And how are you and Masamune doing?” Tsubasa raised an eyebrow looking at Sasha, amused.

“When have we become old gossiping ladies?” Sasha looked at her tea, her smile speaking out for her.

“Old gossiping ladies talk about other people’s lives,” Tsubasa stated matter-of-factly. “We look more like excited teens.”

“I almost prefer being an old lady,” Nozomi laughed and Tsubasa chuckled.

“Anyway, Nozomi and I are not the only ones here whose amorous life is far from boring,” Sasha raised an eyebrow at Tsubasa.

“What do you mean?” Nozomi asked behind a troubled smile.

“News travel fast,” Tsubasa smirked, looking at Sasha. “Looks like certain one-eyed dragon has a big mouth.”

Sasha chuckled and Nozomi looked at them, puzzled.

“What do you mean?”

“Our cold-hearted Tsubasa has fallen in love,” Sasha teased her.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Tsubasa said, a blush betraying her.

“With... whom?” Nozomi asked them, her face going pale.

“No less than the Lord of Fools, the Sixth Demon King, Oda Nobunaga!” Sasha dramatically exclaimed.

“Are you insane?” Nozomi cut them, serious, standing up.

Tsubasa looked up at her, her countenance expressionless.

“Why, I could ask the same thing,” she said, standing up and looking down at Nozomi.

“H-he is the enemy of the Takeda and Sanada family,” Nozomi tried to stand her authoritative look, intimidated by her.

“Thank you for taking the time to explain the business of my family to me,” Tsubasa let out a sarcastic smile. “Any other old thing I should know?”

“Are you going to betray your family?” Nozomi asked, furrowing her lips.

“Is a common girl like you going to get involved with one of the most powerful yakuza family?” she questioned her, her arms crossed and her look challenging and powerful.

“I...” Nozomi looked around, and Sasha interrupted her.

“Well, weren’t we having a peaceful tea?” she tried to cool the atmosphere.

“I should leave,” Nozomi whispered, taking her purse.

“Yes, you should,” Tsubasa replied.

“I... am staying until Masamune comes back,” Sasha told Nozomi, seeing her to the door.

“What?” she looked at her with pleading eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she bit her lower lip.

“Are you serious with Masamune, too?” Nozomi shook her head.

“Nozo...”

“See you later,” she gave her a sad smile.

When Mary went back to the living room, Tsubasa was staring at her cup of tea, serious and thoughtful.

“Was I too harsh?” she asked Sasha.

“I don’t know,” she replied.

Tsubasa let out a sigh.

“She doesn’t know him,” she frowned. “Talking suddenly as if she already were Lady Takeda. She talked like father or Nobuyuki.”

Sasha sat next to her and put a soothing hand on her shoulder.

“She will understand.”

“What will I do?” Tsubasa asked her, her powerful façade breaking for a second. “I know I will have to choose between Nobunaga and my family eventually and I don’t have the right answer.”

“We can only hope for the union of the families,” Sasha said.

“I know. If they started fighting again, it would result in the end of me. If my family killed my lover, I would finish my life, and if my lover killed Shingen or Yukimura, the result would be the same.”

Sasha just looked at her, her eyes tinted with a strong resolution, no traces of fear in them.

 

At twilight, Nobunaga and his men were received by an enthusiastic Tsubasa and Sasha. He took her in her arms and lifted her, spinning her around.

“We were victorious,” he announced with a big grin.

“Of course you were, I would kick your ass back to battle if you weren’t,” she raised an eyebrow, amused.

He let out a loud laugh and sat her on his shoulder, raising his free hand in a fist.

“For the Unification!”

All his men cheered, excited at their victory, and Tsubasa laughed merrily. Masamune was the only one who wasn’t sharing that moment with them, too occupied receiving Sasha in his arms and mounting her on his motorbike to take her away and celebrate their victory in a more intimate way.

“Sanada Tsubasa, you shall serve me sake today,” Nobunaga said, carrying her inside of the building in his arms.

“And if I refuse?” she playfully asked.

“I’ll have to defeat your will too,” he replied.

“With your sword?” she raised an eyebrow.

“With anything that could kill you,” he laughed.

“Then I think I prefer fighting.”

“You impertinent fool, you shall be punished just for that words!” he chuckled.

“I will serve you sake, then, and lessen my punishment. Though you should be scolded, too.”

“May I know why?”

“You haven’t given me a single kiss since you arrived.”

He silenced her with a passionate and rough kiss, which she returned, happy.

 

Shingen embraced Nozomi and lifted her in his arms, announcing their victory.

“And tomorrow Tsubasa shall be back!” he exclaimed.

Nozomi hid her distress behind a bright grin, trying to share his happiness as much as possible, though anxious for the next day.

 

Nobunaga and Tsubasa woke up at the sound of a loud knocking. They had barely slept after their private celebration of his victory, so they were asleep but happy at the memory.

“I’m going,” Nobunaga said, standing up in a rush. “It’s time,” he told Tsubasa.

She nodded, knowing what he meant, and got dressed. They walked with Hideyoshi to the meeting room, where Saizo was waiting for them.

“Congratulations on your victory,” Tsubasa said, embracing him.

“Yukimura and Shingen can’t wait to have you back home,” Saizo gave her a smile.

She nodded, troubled, but smiled. They went downstairs to the entrance, where some cars were waiting for Tsubasa. Shingen and Yukimura went out from two of them and she looked at the men, happy to see them. Shingen opened his arms and she took in a deep breath. She was dying to embrace him, but her heart broke at the prospect of leaving Nobunaga.

“Go, woman,” she heard Nobunaga say, his tone expressionless, and she felt her heart shattering in a million pieces. Nevertheless, she nodded and rushed to Shingen’s arms without looking back.

“What was that? Being so much time with the Oda has made you insensible?” Shingen joked.

“I’m tired,” she just replied.

“Are you still mad? We’ll talk about it at home. Let’s go already,” he said, dragging her with him by the hand.

“Tsubasa,” Yukimura smiled at her and embraced her.

She looked back to see Nobunaga looking at her with a stoic expression and made a great effort holding back tears. She gave a look at the rest of the yakuza, too, who were looking at her with equally serious expressions, although their eyes let her know they would miss her.

“Tsubasa?” Shingen called her and she got in the car. “I’m glad you’re finally coming home,” he passed an arm round her shoulders. “I asked the maids to prepare a special lunch to welcome you.”

Tsubasa smiled.

“I can’t wait to try it. Oh, and I should make dinner.”

“You?” he raised an eyebrow, amused.

“Masamune taught me some recipes, and they are quite good. I can’t wait for you to have some. You shall love it.”

Shingen gave her a serious look.

“So they have been treating you well at Azuchi,” he said.

“They have,” Tsubasa nodded.

“Tsubasa,” he took her chin to look into her eyes. “You know you can’t grow attached to any of them, right? Our hostility resumed the moment they gave you back t us.”

Tsubasa slapped Shingen’s hand.

“I know that.”

“Tsu...”

“Leave me alone. As I said, I’m tired.”

Shingen looked at her, worried, but decided not to give it a second thought. They arrived home and Tsubasa went immediately to her room, without caring to greet Nozomi or the maids. Nozomi looked at her with troubled eyes and Shingen embraced her from behind, leaning his chin on her forehead.

“Did you fight?” he asked.

“Something like that,” she acknowledged. “I have to resume my painting.”

“Would you mind some company?” he grinned, knowing the answer already.

“No,” she let out a small smile.

Tsubasa lied on her futon, looking at the ceiling, holding the fan Nobunaga had given her close to her chest. At that moment, Sasuke fell from the ceiling, startling her.

“Sasuke!” she exclaimed, and hugged him. “How have you been?”

“Fine,” he replied. “I’ve heard you’re acting weird. Why?” he pouted.

“Oh, Sasuke, don’t worry about me,” Tsubasa smiled tenderly. “I’ll be alright.”

“Did you make friends with the people in Azuchi?” he asked her, frowning.

“I’m sorry, Sasuke,” Tsubasa smiled, troubled, making the child sigh.

“You always go with that tough girl attitude, but people always get to you,” Sasuke furrowed his nose and Tsubasa chuckled, rubbing his hair.

“You’re so cute, Sasuke.”

The child blushed and moved away, telling her how manly and skilful he was. At that moment, they heard a knock on Tsubasa’s door.

“Tsubasa, come to the main hall,” they heard Saizo’s voice.

She complied, rushing there, wondering what they could need from her. She opened the door to find Shingen, Yukimura, Nozomi and their men on a video call with no other than Nobunaga. Tsubasa’s heart jumped in her chest as she approached the place Shingen had kept for her between him and her brother. She sat, looking at the screen with a small smile which Nobunaga returned for a second.

“Takeda Shingen,” he spoke up, “I’ve called you to ask you to reconsider unifying the families.”

“I won’t yield,” he replied.

“I must insist,” Nobunaga said. “I plan to unify the Oda and Sanada families under my union to Tsubasa.”

The room stayed in silence for a while until Tsubasa spoke up with a smirk.

“Is that a marriage proposal?” she raised an eyebrow, amused but moved.

“What do you think?” he grinned, a look of determination in his eyes.

“That’s insane,” Shingen spoke up. “Tsu...”

“I accept,” she smiled. “I will marry you, Oda Nobunaga.”

Once more, the room was left in silence until Shingen spoke up.

“I won’t accept that union,” he looked at Tsubasa, anger in his eyes.

“Whom I marry is my decision,” Tsubasa replied.

“This conversation is over,” Shingen said and closed the laptop, dismissing his men with a move of his hand. “Have you lost your mind?” he asked her.

“I will marry Nobunaga.”

“You don’t have my blessing. He’s trying to take advantage of your connections to...”

“He’s not trying to take advantage of anyone!” Tsubasa exclaimed, standing up.

“If you marry him, you’ll stop being part of the Sanada family,” Yukimura stood with her, glancing fiercely into her eyes.

“Then so be it!” she kicked the floor with her foot.

“You won’t marry him!!” Yukimura yelled at her. “Stay out of this!”

“I love him!”

Yukimura slapped Tsubasa’s cheek, making her widen her eyes in surprise, her expression matching Yukimura’s, for not even he could believe what he had just done.

“Tsubasa, I...”

She interrupted his words going out of the room. Shingen looked towards the door, serious, his expression undecipherable. He stood up and Nozomi did so with him.

“I’m going to my chambers. Alone,” he added, and walked away.

 

Nobunaga stared at his laptop, unable to believe Shingen had forbidden their union. He dismissed his men, who left him at the room, troubled and anxious themselves, and leaned his chin on his hands. He was at a loss of what to do for the first time in his life. He would not renounce to his dream, that was for sure, but he felt the need to share it with Tsubasa.

“Milord,” he heard Mitsuhide’s voice next to him. “Do you still intend to take Tsubasa as your wife?”

Nobunaga looked up at him, interested on his words.

“Speak,” he said.

“I believe you never gave her hairpin back to her,” he smiled. Nobunaga nodded, feeling it heavier than ever in his pocket. “We could send a maid to bring it to her with a letter. I can talk to a monastery that owes me a favour to tell them to marry you there.”

“Will the Takeda allow the maid to talk to Tsubasa?” he asked Mitsuhide.

“She can go to other maid in Shingen’s castle whom she knows.”

“Do it,” Nobunaga said, looking at Mitsuhide, who nodded, willing to put the plan into action.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsubasa receives notice of Mitsuhide's plan to have her marry to Nobunaga.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes a new chapter! I'm sorry this took so long to upload, but I've been quite busy lately T^T
> 
> Thank you for reading and I hope you like it <3

Tsubasa was lying on her bed, her left hand on the cheek Yukimura had slapped and her right hand holding Nobunaga’s fan close against her chest. She had stopped crying long ago and she was just staring at the door next to her, trying to come out with a plan to get out of there. At that moment, she heard a knock on her door.

“Come in,” she said, standing up, her voice sounding husky from crying much to her distress.

“My lady,” the maid called her before opening the door. “A maid from Azuchi left this here for you,” she said, giving her the hairpin.

Tsubasa took it, her heart breaking at the thought of Nobunaga giving it back to her. It felt like a rejection. Then, the maid gave her also a letter, her look troubled, but Tsubasa smiled at her, which made her sigh in relief. She left, closing the door behind her, and Tsubasa opened the letter, hopeful.

It was a short missive written by Mitsuhide, but long enough to bring a smile to Tsubasa’s face. It read that if she still wanted to marry Nobunaga, she should sneak out of Shingen’s palace and go to Yasaka-jinja shrine, where a car would be waiting for her. She took her things and, without hesitation, rushed as quietly as she could to the back door of the house and walked into the night with the intention to become Lady Oda.

 

Yukimura was pacing up and down his room, his guilt increasing as the minutes went by for having done that to his sister. Saizo looked at him, serious, not even trying to comfort him.

“Aren’t you going to apologise?” he finally spoke up.

“I should, shouldn’t I?” Yukimura looked at him, but he shrugged.

“That’s up to you.”

Yukimura rubbed his hair.

“Gaaaah! I’ll be right back!” he finally exclaimed, going out of his room with determined steps and a frown, at which Saizo smiled tenderly.

Nevertheless, when he got to Tsubasa’s room, it was empty.

 

Nozomi knocked on Shingen’s door. He was sitting by the veranda, having some sake, faintly illuminated by the moonlight. A gentle breeze blew, making the crystal bell which hung by the window fill the silence of the night with a light, clear tinkling. Nozomi closed the door behind her and sat next to Shingen, who, wordlessly, passed an arm round her waist and brought her closer to him. She leaned her forehead on the crook of his neck and stared at the night sky, clear and full of stars, which could be seen between the sakura trees, full of buds.

“I can’t wait for them to bloom,” Nozomi said.

“They must bloom tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. They are late this year.”

“It’s because it’s still chilly,” Nozomi replied. “Will we go to the Hanami together?”

“Of course,” Shingen looked at her, smiling gently. “This year, and the year after, and the year after that, and always.”

“Is it a promise?” she asked, and Shingen stretched out his pinkie.

“It is,” he said, and Nozomi wrapped hers around his.

 

Tsubasa looked around her at the entrance of the shrine, anxious, until a black car finally appeared. In it, there were two men who asked for her identity and to show them the hairpin, which she did, and they let her in. They drove deep into the rice fields for some time, but Tsubasa didn’t grow anxious, trusting the people in Azuchi. They finally arrived to a shrine in the middle of nowhere and Mitsuhide received her, opening the door of the car.

“If it isn’t Nobunaga’s nightingale?” he smirked, but instead of replying to his teasing, Tsubasa threw herself to his arms, making him startle lightly.

“Thank you,” she said, tightening her embrace.

“Is Sanada’s bird going to get emotional?” he teased her, though his voice lacked the usual bite in it. “It doesn’t suit you.”

She moved back and smiled at Mitsuhide, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

“It’s the spell of the moonlight.”

For once, Mitsuhide gave her a tender smile and rubbed her hair.

“Come on, you don’t want to make Nobunaga wait, now do you?”

She shook her head, chuckling lightly and let the Miko guide her to where she was going to change her clothes into the traditional white kimono. Once she was changed, she led her to the altar, where Nobunaga was already waiting for her in the traditional clothing. She jumped to his arms and he received her, kissing her softly on the lips before the ceremony started.

“Did you prefer a western wedding?” she asked him.

“This is perfect,” he replied, caressing her cheek with his thumb. “You look perfect.”

“So do you,” she chuckled, and kissed him.

They carried out the ceremony, Mitsuhide standing as the only witness, shared the sake and Nobunaga said some improvised vows, in which he thanked Mitsuhide, and made the offerings. The whole scene was illuminated solely by the moon and candlelight, making Tsubasa’s eyes gleam magically and Nobunaga would have sworn she was an ethereal spirit of the night, and illusion created by the moonlight.

He helped her out of the kimono after the ceremony, kissing her neck and shoulders.

“Husband,” she called him.

“Yes?” he smiled against her shoulder.

“I want to print the Oda symbol on my free shoulder.”

“I can help you with that,” he embraced her from behind.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too,” he tightened his embrace.

They made love once more before visiting Nobunaga’s acquaintance, who tattooed the Oda symbol on Tsubasa’s left shoulder, right next to the Sanada symbol. Nobunaga kissed next to the swollen skin.

“You’re perfect,” he whispered on her pale, spotless skin, and she chuckled.

“I should go back home before they wonder where I am.”

Nobunaga nodded.

“My men will leave you at the shrine where they picked you up.”

“That’s fantastic,” she said, turning to kiss him.

“If you ever need something, I have some men in Gyon Corner,” he kissed her forehead, his hands behind her ears, and she nodded.

“I love you,” she repeated before parting.

Tsubasa rushed to her home, where she was received by worried maids.

“Your brother and Shingen are waiting for you at the main hall,” they said, and she went there.

“Where have you been?” Shingen asked her, Nozomi sitting next to him.

“I’ve gone for a walk to clear my head.”

Shingen softened his look and sighed.

“Tsubasa, I wanted to apologise,” Yukimura finally acknowledged. “I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he put his hands on her arms.

She smiled faintly at him.

“It’s alright,” she said.

“I love you, sister,” he gave her a tender smile and embraced her.

“I know. I love you too, little brother,” she couldn’t help but hissing at Yukimura tightened his embrace round the injured skin.

“Did I hurt you?” he asked confused, and moved back.

“It’s alright,” she replied.

Shingen narrowed his eyes, suspicious.

“Did something happen in your walk?” Yukimura asked, genuinely worried.

“Nothing happened, it’s alright.”

“Where did you go?” Shingen pressured her.

“Near the river,” she lied.

“We sent some men to look for you there, and there was no sign of you,” he stood up. “Where were you?”

“I went for a walk around the city!” she insisted.

“Uncover your shoulder,” he ordered her, noticing the ring on her finger.

“No!” she exclaimed.

“Have you got something to hide?” Yukimura asked her, gloomy.

“Shingen...” Nozomi tried to stop him, but he continued talking.

“Did you marry the Lord of Fools?” he asked between gritted teeth.

Tsubasa looked defiantly at them and uncovered her shoulder, revealing the Oda symbol.

“You brought dishonour to the Sanada,” Yukimura said, trembling with anger, his fists clenched.

Tsubasa looked at him, her eyes watery and her mouth shut into a thin line, but her look strong and resolute.

“I can’t undo what I did, and I wouldn’t if I could.”

“You insolent...” Yukimura was interrupted by Shingen’s hand on his shoulder.

“Tsubasa, you’d better leave this house and go to your husband,” he said, his voice calm and cold. “You are the enemy now.”

Tsubasa’s chest raised and fell as she took in deep and forced breaths. She looked at Nozomi, but she had her face turned from her to the floor. Tsubasa straightened her back and raised her chin with dignity, her eyes cold and distant.

“Fine,” she said.

“You can take your things and leave in the morning,” Shingen spoke up.

“There’s nothing here I would like to keep,” she replied. “And I refuse to stay the night.”

“As you wish,” Shingen replied.

She left the house where she had shared beautiful moments with her brothers and took a taxi to Gyon Corner, where she found Oda’s people. They took her to Azuchi and Nobunaga received her with open arms. She told him what had happened and cried about their rejection as Nobunaga caressed her hair and kissed her sweetly.

 

Nozomi told Sasha about what had happened through the phone.

“I don’t know what I should do,” she confessed. “I’m scared that Nobunaga is trying to use her against Shingen. I don’t want her to get hurt.”

“Nevertheless, you allowed it,” Sasha replied in a serious voice.

Nozomi bit her lower lip.

“I didn’t know what to do. Her betrayal hurt me.”

“She had made clear to her family that she didn’t want to get involved in their business,” Sasha said. “A family of which you are not part yet. She followed her own heart, pursuing happiness, and they gave their back to her, unwilling to allow it.”

“Isn’t it her duty to be faithful to her family?” she questioned, more to herself than to Sasha.

“She was freed from it when she renounced to carry the yakuza tradition,” Sasha shrugged. “There is not a definite answer. There are no villains or heroes in this story. There are just people trying to be faithful to themselves and doing what they think it’s best. People make mistakes holding to their principles. You are the one who decides if what you do is right or wrong.”

“I don’t feel good with what I did,” Nozomi acknowledged. “And I don’t think Shingen or Yuki do, either.”

“There’s your answer,” Sasha replied.

“Thank you,” Nozomi said, and they hung up.

She tried to reach Tsubasa to her phone, but she wouldn’t pick up.

 

Tsubasa accompanied the yakuza on their meeting the next day after being warmly welcomed by them, happy to have her back at Azuchi, more so as Lady Oda. She smiled warmly at them, truly happy that she was with them, and the meeting took place.

She looked in silence as they discussed how they were to proceed. The next day, they would fight against the Takeda.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's only one chapter and a small epilogue left!
> 
> This chapter is short but intense, so I hope you like it.
> 
> Thank you for reading <3

Tsubasa took Nobunaga’s hand, leading him to bed. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose and her lips, making her chuckle and blush lightly. She captured his lower lip in her teeth, and he started undoing her shirt with slow and careful hands which memorised the feeling of her skin and the forms of her beautiful and elegant body. She, too, took her time caressing him, kissing down his neck to his shoulders, taking his hand in hers to kiss the tip of his fingers and his palm.

They sweetly made love on Nobunaga’s bed, their bodies held close together, their moans low and shaky, sweet ‘I love you’s escaping from their lips and getting lost in the other’s name and in sighs of pleasure.

 They lied on the bed, looking at each other, fingers intertwined, panting lightly, their cheeks flushed.

“You have to win tomorrow,” Tsubasa said.

“I always do,” Nobunaga grinned confident.

Tsubasa gave him a smile and kissed his lips, trusting he would.

 

They spent the whole morning together with the rest of Azuchi’s yakuza. Tsubasa had a great time teasing Ieasu, Hideyoshi and Mitsuhide, cooking with Sasha and Masamune, playing around with Nobunaga and melting at Mitsunari’s sweetness. She and Sasha helped them getting ready after lunch and saw them to the door.

“Do you carry it?” Tsubasa asked Nobunaga.

“Of course,” he put a hand on his chest and she smiled.

“I love you, husband,” she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

“I love you, nightingale,” he returned the kiss.

She waved goodbye at them as they got into their cars and looked at Sasha when they disappeared.

“I’m going to go shopping groceries for when Masa comes back,” Sasha smiled. “I just can’t stay put while he’s in battle.”

“I know,” Tsubasa sighed. “I’ll go and write some poems.”

“Call me if you get melancholic,” Sasha said, and kissed her cheek.

“I will. Thank you,” she replied and Sasha smiled at her before leaving.

 

“Promise you’ll come back,” Nozomi said.

“I’ll come back,” Shingen smiled, confident. “And I’ll talk to Tsubasa.”

Nozomi nodded, smiling at him with unshed tears and Shingen rode off to fight the Oda family.

 

Tsubasa took her things and went out of home, decided. She took a taxi and had to pay an unbelievable amount of money for the driver to take her to the location she requested, but she got there and approached the place of the fight.

“Where are you going?” she heard a childish voice.

“Sasuke,” she turned with a smile.

“Why are you with Nobunaga?” he asked with a pout. “I can’t let you near the battlefield.”

“Sasuke, do you trust me?” she asked, kneeling in front of him. He looked at her, hesitant, but finally nodded. “Thank you,” she smiled and kissed his forehead as she neared the port.

The street smelled as blood and sweat as the yakuza fought with their katana only. Nobunaga finally found himself face to face with Shingen and their katana clashed against the other’s, which resulted in an even fight. The rest of their men stood aside to watch it, fascinated by their abilities. It felt like a choreographed dance and was enthralling. Finally, Nobunaga’s katana threw away Shingen’s as he fell on his knees in front of him. Nobunaga sheathed his katana and took his gun, which he pointed at Shingen’s head.

“I have lost,” he acknowledged, looking up at Nobunaga.

“You have,” he said.

At that moment, a shot echoed the quiet port.

The yakuza looked at the blood that emanated from him in disbelief.

“My Lord!” a desperate yell was heard from Hideyoshi.

Nobunaga’s blood stained his suit as he looked up with a smile at the woman she loved and was holding the gun he had given her with tears in her eyes.

“I was waiting for you,” he said as he took a hand to his stomach.

Tsubasa took Shingen’s katana from the floor as he looked at her in disbelief and neared Nobunaga.

“End me,” he asked her.

She embraced him and dig the katana in Nobunaga’s body, making it pierce his body and hers.

“Tsubasa, no!” Yukimura yelled, ready to make his way to her, but a hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing so.

“Call an ambulance,” Saizo said, and Yukimura went away to do just so.

Tsubasa and Nobunaga’s knees became weak and they fell on the floor, Nobunaga’s thumb caressing her cheek, which was stained with a tear.

“Forgive me,” she said.

“I can forgive you for killing me, but I will never forgive my wife’s murderer,” Nobunaga stated.

“Please, my love.”

He kissed her blood-stained kiss.

The sun settled behind her, hiding its reddened sphere in the sea, filling everything with warm colours and giving way for the bright moon to go up the sky and tint the ambiance with silver. Nobunaga took Tsubasa’s hand as if to keep it warm from the cool breeze that was starting to blow, taking away their last breaths.

“Will we see each other in hell?” Tsubasa asked him.

“Can nightingales go to hell?” Nobunaga chuckled.

“I’ll go anywhere you go. Forever.”

Suddenly, a pinkish petal fell on Nobunaga’s cheek. Tsubasa looked around and saw a sakura tree that had blossomed in the magic of the moonlight.

“Look, the sakuras have bloomed.”

“So beautiful,” Nobunaga whispered.

“I’m glad we got to see them together,” she replied, but when she looked back at him, Nobunaga’s already empty eyes were fixated of her. “How dare you?” she wept, “Leaving before I did?”

She caressed his cheek with her hand and leaned forward to kiss his lips sweetly as she felt her last breath leaving her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the last chapter! There's a short epilogue I'll update later today, since it isn't too long :)
> 
> I really hope you liked this story!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and supporting it <3

The port fell into a heavy silence, only interrupted by Yukimura’s rushed steps and his yell.

“Tsubasa!” he screamed, breaking through the crowd of yakuzas and kneeling in front of her, his hands trembling as he took her in his arms, freeing her from the katana that linked her body and Nobunaga’s. “No, no, no, stay with me,” he called her. “Tsubasa! Tsubasa!!!”

The rest of them looked at him in silence as the sound of sirens echoed through the night, approaching them. The police’s cars stopped in front of them, a strong and tall man with a scar that coursed his face went out of one of them, serious. Kennyo, the police officer looked at the scene, his expression never faltering.

“This is how your wars and fight end. You couldn’t leave aside the hatred and confrontations of your parents to start a new generation of respect, continuing a tradition of shadows and darkness that ended with the life and story of love of two people. You couldn’t follow the example of the one who was willing to stop this tradition of murdering to follow her own path. It’s not Shingen’s weapon or her will which has ended her and her husband’s life, but your wars and blindness,” he said.

Shingen said nothing, but walked towards Yukimura and took Tsubasa in his arms, walking away with her in silence. The rest of his clan looked at him and started following him, disappearing from the port into the quiet darkness of one of the allies, the only sound heard, their steps and Sasuke’s distant sobs.

 

Hideyoshi and Nobunaga’s men arrived to Azuchi. He locked himself up in Nobunaga’s room and no one dared disturbing him. That’s when he saw an ivory envelope on Nobunaga’s desk. He neared it and took it.

_To Hideyoshi_

He opened it, holding a breath, as he recognised Tsubasa’s handwriting.

_My  dear friend and brother,_

_By the time you read this letter, I’ll be dead already. Please, forgive me for leaving this way and, most of all, for taking with me the life of our Lord. If your love towards me cannot persuade you of forgiving me, I hope my death will: people grow forgiving towards the ones who are gone._

_I write this letter not with the intention of justifying my deeds, but prompt by the wish to, at least, explain my decision. I do not know if the actions I am to undertake are the correct ones, and I will never know. I only wish to do things as right as I can._

_When my brothers denied my marriage with Nobunaga, I knew I had lost any of them forever. The night before your battle I had to decide between losing two brothers or my lord and husband to death, and any option would result in my own. If I left things unfold as Fate decided, I would die with no honour, having been denied by my family, so I decided to take arms against my own heart. If I killed Nobunaga, I would no longer be a traitor of the Sanada and Takeda families, and committing suicide I would redeem of betraying my husband._

_If Nobunaga won the fight, I would save my brothers. If Nobunaga were to lose, I would free him from a death in the hands of his enemies._

_Nobunaga knows I have taken this decision. I have seen it in the way he looks at me and addresses me. I know he understand and respects my choices._

_I cannot hope for the wars between families to end with our sacrifice, but I do end my own and Nobunaga’s war with it. I trust wherever we go after closing our eyes in eternal sleep, we will be happy._

_A word must be addressed for my family too. I hope if the love they feel, I have no doubts, towards me is not enough to forgive my old betrayal, my redemption will. I have forgiven them already._

_As for you, dear friend, and all the Oda followers, all I have is words of gratitude. You were the ones who accepted me into your family even though my origins laid with the enemy. You were friendly and caring, and I could not have wished of better company during my short stay under your care._

_Even though I am to undertake the most selfish action, I hope you will allow me to ask you for something, though I know I do not need to request this. I trust our lord’s dream will be fulfilled under your watch. I know Nobunaga would like you to succeed him, and as Lady Oda, I name you the following head of the Oda family. I trust that you will see that the unification of the families happens and that you will honour the name of Oda Nobunaga._

_With this, I part one last time from you. Take care of those who you love and yourself. I will never be able thank you enough for all you have done and all I know you will do._

_Your faithful servant,_

_Oda Tsubasa_

Hideyoshi finished the letter, clenched in his hands and stained with the tears he had finally shed after holding them back since he saw his lord and lady’s death. In the envelope was also a lock of Tsubasa’s hair which he would keep from that day onwards in a locker. He wiped his tears and looked again at the desk, where he found a hand-made notebook with a purple cover. He took it and opened it, finding Tsubasa’s poems. The work was entitled: _Our Last Hanami_.

He took the letter and the notebook and went out of the room, where he was received by worried maids, Ieasu, Mitsunari and Mitsuhide. He walked away without saying a word to them and they followed him to the entrance, where the rest of the Oda family members were waiting for him. When he stood in front of him they kneeled and bowed, swearing him eternal loyalty in silence. He turned, surprised, to find his friends bowing, too.

 

Masamune arrived to Sasha’s home even before going to his own. Her face light up when she saw him and she threw herself to his arms, though his serious countenance made her shiver in fear.

“Tsubasa...” he started saying, but was interrupted by a sob of realisation and he tightened his embrace as Sasha denied in disbelief what she knew to be true.

 

Shingen arrived to his palace, Tsubasa still in his arms. Nozomi received him and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her life-less body in his arms.

“We lost,” he just said as he went to Tsubasa’s room.

Nozomi let out a loud sob as her knees failed her, Yukimura arriving in time to hold her before she fell on the floor.

“I couldn’t apologise!” she exclaimed, as if to try to convince Tsubasa of waking up. “Tsubasa!!”

In the afternoon, the Takeda received a visit from Hideyoshi and Ieasu.

“I come to talk to your lord,” he said to Yukimura.

“He has locked himself up in Tsubasa’s room since he arrived,” he replied. “He hasn’t even seen his doctors.”

“He will come to this,” Hideyoshi took Tsubasa’s letter and put it on the table.

Saizo took it to see if it was really Tsubasa’s, and gave it to Yukimura before going to her room, knocking on the door.

“Milord, the monkey brought Tsubasa’s last words.”

The door opened and Shingen went out of the room and followed Saizo to the main hall, where Yukimura was reading Tsubasa’s letter. He gave it to Shingen, who read it a great number of times before speaking up.

“Tsubasa is, and will always be, a member of the Sanada family and a friend of the Takedas,” he spoke up. “As wife to your lord, the Takeda family was the one who betrayed her,” he said, bowing until his head touched the floor. “I apologise to your family and ask you to do as you see fit to me to punish our house.”

All of them watched Shingen’s apology in silence until Hideyoshi spoke up.

“I command you to swear loyalty to the Oda family and fight with us for the unification of the families. That shall be your punishment.”

Shingen looked up at him.

“It shall be done so.”

 

The ceremony was carried out in Nobunaga’s private cemetery. The lovers were laid down together. Shingen put in Nobunaga’s intertwined hands Tsubasa’s hairpin, which they had found in the inner pocket of his vest, and Hideyoshi put in Tsubasa’s the fan she had been also carrying in the hour of her death. The two families beheld how, in that peaceful morning of spring, two lovers lied together to indulge themselves in a peaceful, eternal sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I dediced that, as this looked pretty much like Romeo and Juliet, I wanted to use a figure similar to that of the Prince, who renders a final moralistic monologue. Seen that Kennyo was the only character who is not a samurai (and, thus, a yakuza), I decided to use him to fulfil this role even though having him fighting the Oda, Takeda and Uesugi would have been more close to the canon. I hope you liked the decision ^^
> 
> Thank you again for reading <3


	12. Epilogue: Three Years Later

Nozomi looked out of the veranda at the fully-blossomed sakuras. She took the notebook and joined Shingen under one of them as he drank his sake. He smiled up at her and she sat down next to him, leaning her shoulder against his.

“Read,” he said, just as he opened the book with a calm smile.

“The soul blossoms too

Under the cherry trees.

Our last Hanami.”

A warm breeze blew making a crystal bell chime lightly and, despite it was still early morning, bringing the distant sound of the song of a nightingale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the epilogue :3
> 
> I really hope you liked this story! Thank you for reading and your support <3


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